You are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. You are His poiemia. The word workmanship is the word poiemia. We get the word poem from that when an artist takes words and pieces them together to write a poem to speak a message out or create a work of art, That's what that workmanship is. We're the poemia, the artwork or the display of His grace. That's what we are. He's done something in us. And you've heard me say, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, got webbed feet like a duck, got feathers like a duck, swims like a duck, it's probably a duck, amen. And His workmanship, His disciples, His believers, they have characteristics too. And one of the main characteristics is they go from being an enemy to the grace and the will and the work of God to being in love with Him. Being in love with His people, being in love with His word, being in love with telling people what He's done for them, amen. Man, if it looks like a disciple, smells like a disciple, lives like a disciple, repents like a disciple, loves like a disciple, walks like a disciple, it's a disciple, amen. Just like the duck. So y'all know I carry my ducks around, huh? Yesterday I was in a place and I pulled some money out and my duck fell to the ground. Somebody said, man, that sounds like a... That's not like a ruby or a diamond fell out. And I said, oh, it's probably a little more of value than that. I said, here, I'm going to give it to you. So that cashier, when I was standing there, I said, let me give you this duck. It was a white one. I said, I carry these in my pocket just to remind people a duck is a duck is a duck. But the question would be, has Jesus made you a new creature in Christ who is a disciple of his, that when people see you, they say, that's a disciple. Why? Because they recognize the characteristics of a disciple in your life. Man, you love Jesus. You love his people. You love his message. You love telling his message. You love him, you smell, man, the disciples learn how to repent as a way of life, amen. They don't have everything together, they just cast everything on him who does have it together. So I say, look, a duck is a duck is a duck, but so is a disciple. And if you've never been made a disciple, you need to be interrupted by Jesus. So I give him that duck, said, I want you to remember that. I set it on the counter. He said, I appreciate that. Ain't nobody ever gave me a duck. I said, well, it's always a new day. Yeah, yeah. Well, we are in the book of Ephesians. That's where we are in our daily reading. What we do is we take one Bible book at a time, one chapter at a time, a day, and walk through it. We just wrapped up with the gospel of John and moved into Ephesians. One yesterday and Ephesians two this morning. But these fellas know we can go anywhere. God's speaking to you, giving you something that you want to give away that we need. We'll run in all kind of directions with what the Lord gives us. But Ephesians, John, anywhere, they're all gonna tie together. It's all about Jesus. That's right, that's right. I've been reading, my extra reading, is in 1 John, and I really enjoyed chapter 2 of 1 John. It speaks of your commitment, it speaks of power, it speaks of commandments it's just a good solid help somebody. I have I have found that with almost every page of my Bible. I hear you. Yeah I got no place to mark. Yeah these these guys we've been doing this for about 16 years and they know every time I'm in a book I tell them man I I'm amazed at your Bible. I mean, I don't believe you could write anything else with one of them pages. Well, I had to move on into a new one. Every page is like that. It's amazing. I know, Brother Shannon spilled some coffee on it the first day we was here. I was like, man, I tell you what. That'll get you cut. It cleaned up. Ain't bothered it at all. I'll let them grandkids sit with me and they read with me and I'll give them a pen and they get to write here and there and then I'll put their little initials by it and the year they did it. But they like getting over there with me and looking at my Bible. People ask, what them colors mean? I said, it's just a pen I had at the time. That's all it is. Yeah, yeah. But I did get me another Bible that's identical to this one, and I've transitioned over, but I still carry this one with me. This one's been all over the world, and it has been one good word. It has held up, still holding up strong, Got this one and I'm trying to build notes into it like this so that I've got three daughters. We got nine grandkids and I'd like to have each one of them before the Lord takes me home for them to have at least one per family. And if anything, they could reprint this one. if they had to, which I would probably encourage them to do, just have somebody repin it just the way, with all of it in there, and then they all have a copy of each one that I do, because they're all going to be a little bit different. But yeah, yeah. Well, Ephesians 2, you look, 1 John, you'll see these, look at Ephesians 2. Look at Ephesians 2. That's today's reading. If you notice in verse one, look in verse one, some translations don't do this, but the translators often, when they translated these from the original, we don't have any original copies, we have copies of originals, but when they take, say like what they call the Texas Receptus, which is the base origin of the, Greek New Testament, how we get the King James Bible, the new King James Bible come out of that. And then there's other copies of other translations that some of the modern newer translations were used but if you will notice mine does this it says and you he made alive that word he made alive is italicized and they do that purposely to let you know that it was added for understanding emphasis but it wasn't in the original flow of the language meaning the original Greek text wasn't there. Now the intent is there, the message is there, because he's going to bring it out further on down in it, but it's just tying these thoughts together. So you could read it like this, and you who were dead in trespasses and sins, and when you used to walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children or products of wrath, just as the others, but God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love, which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses. Now see, made us alive is not a talistize because it's there. They just added it up at the top. so that we would understand, well, that's what he did. When we were dead, he made us alive. But it's always important to recognize that's really not, we're in chapter two, Brother Shannon. Yeah, chapter two of Ephesians. So when he says in verse five, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. The three things we see, and there's much that's seen, but you see that when we were dead, when we were disobedient and when we were deceived. What did He do? By grace, which is through Jesus, He made us alive. Dead, disobedient, deceived. With no power to come out on our own. We had to be rescued. We had to be interrupted. We had to be taken out of that. And that's what that is saying, that by grace you've been saved. what we looked at say Wednesday night remember Wednesday night we said that by the grace of God Jesus tasted death so that He could bring many sons to glory and He said I'm not ashamed to call them brethren who the children that you gave me So this is the children that were given to Jesus. This is the sons of glory that because of the grace of God, that is because of what God did in and through Christ, we then are able to get what the Bible calls the gift of grace, which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So the Bible describes grace in two pictures, twofold. You have the grace of God, that eternal grace, that's the root of it. The result is Jesus entered into this world and lived the life that we couldn't live, to die a death that we couldn't die, that we might live the life that He lived by putting our trust in Him. And as a result, then that gift of the grace of God, which is His righteousness, is imputed to us, and we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. See, but we were dead. We were disobedient, and we were deceived because we were products of wrath. That's right, we were products of that wrath. We inherited that, that came upon us, but then we just got caught up in the flow of everybody else because of our nature. Our nature was caught up in the deadness. Our nature was caught up in the darkness. It was caught up in the deception and the disobedience. And, but Jesus, because of God's rich and abundant mercy. And the great love with which He loved us, the expanse of it that's beyond measure, poured out that wrath upon Him so that He could pour out His righteousness upon us. And there's the great swap that took place. And then the rest of this chapter is gonna continue to remind us, for by grace you are saved through faith. It's not of yourselves, it, salvation, which is grace and faith, is the gift of God. God graced us with this. It's not of works, least any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Yes. To give. That's right. It's exactly right. Man. Yes. It's given. He gave it. Wednesday night, being in John, we was in John 19, and we looked at 17, 18, and 19. In John 17, we've seen how 17 different times he uses the word either give, gave, or given. Now all the same word, but just in a different tense. Gave, give, and given. And not one of those gave, give, or given can be missing anything in it. If it's missing one aspect of it, none of them hold up. So those 17 gaves in there are extremely of value. And he just laid, it covers every facet of who we are and what we are and why we can be what we are because what the father gave the son and what the son gives us and what we give back to the father. When you look at that in those verses, 17 times it says, given, gave and give. And every one of them, it's like a, if Noah built that ark and if one plank was missing on that ark, it wouldn't float. And if one plank, one splinter of the plank is missing in any of those gives, it don't float because it covers the scope of everything. And this is Jesus' prayer back to the Father as he was praying. He said, you have given me all authority over all flesh that I might give eternal life to as many as you have given me. As many as speaks of no more, no less. Jesus gives eternal life to as many as the Father gave him. And then he says, you gave me glory. I give my words to those you gave me. I give my works to those you gave me. I finish the work you've given me. You see, you can't take none of it away. You take one, one dynamic of that away, none of it holds up. So you have to, it's one of those truths, John 17, that you could expand on it and go as far back as you want to go or as forward as you want to go and everything in between and you'll have nothing but the gospel and the redeeming grace of God. And this is what this is speaking of right here in chapter two. Goes back to what Brother Shannon was speaking of in second John two. All that was given to us and it was given to us through grace because what was given to Jesus what was given to Jesus. And we often think of the grace of God as something that we receive, and it is, don't get me wrong. But it's not often associated with the fact that it was Jesus who lived by the grace of God. It was Jesus who did what he did by the grace of God. It was Jesus. That's our salvation. That's the grace of God at work. Yes, that's right, that's right. Look, look in Hebrews, look in Hebrews chapter two. Let's just look at it real quick. You'll see what I'm talking about. Look in, this is chapter two, verse six, seven, and eight is an older Testament quote from the Psalms. That's Psalm eight. And Psalm eight tells us that God is our creator who's created all things and he created man. He made him a little lower than the angels and he gave man dominion. When God created Adam in the garden, he gave him dominion over everything. The problem is, Adam fell. And when he fell, he lost that dominion. So there was another Adam who is to come, who would actually possess that dominion. And that's what, toward the end, after that quote of Psalm 8, in verse 8 says, for in that God put all in subjection under Adam, He left nothing that is not put under Him, meaning He put everything under Adam's authority. But now at this current time, we do not see all things put under humanity, under man. But what do we see? We see Jesus. Who was made a little lower than the angels, that is, He took upon flesh and dwelt among us. What was He made for? What was He put on this earth for? For the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he, Jesus, by the grace of who? God, might taste death for everyone. Notice that, by the grace of God, therefore that's saying that every step, everything, every dynamic of Jesus' life was by the grace of God. That's the root, that's the eternal root to it all, God's grace. Without the eternal grace of God, there is no Jesus coming to this earth. Without the grace of God, there is no death on the cross as a substitute for our sins. By God's grace, he entered in this world. By God's grace, he walked and lived righteously. By God's grace, he suffered death. in our place as one, God's sacrifice for Himself, and two, our substitute, that He was a substitute for us. Verse number 10, for it was fitting for the Father, God, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory. Now remember, we were dead. We were disobedient and deceived. Verse nine, when it says, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, Jesus, by the grace of the Father, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. Now that's the grace of God that Ephesians talking about. For by grace are we saved. That's the grace, by his life. Him living what we couldn't live, doing what we couldn't do. So he was born of grace, he was lived by grace, he died by grace, by the grace of God. Verse 10 is gonna explain that. For it was fitting for God, the Father, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory. You see, we're the sons that are brought to glory, but we were dead, we were, disobedient and we were deceived in darkness so somebody had to rescue us from that. He had to make us alive in that and only could do that through grace. through the life of Jesus. So he says, that many sons the glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. Now the captain is Jesus. So the father made the son, the captain of salvation, the pinnacle, the chief, the everything, the author and the finisher. He made him perfect through suffering, verse 11, for both he, that's Jesus, who sanctifies, and those who are being sanctified, that's us, that's the sons of glory, are all of one, that we all come from the Father. This is the Father's work. For which reason he, Jesus, is not ashamed to call us, them, brethren, amen? Why? Because he became, now I'll read a little bit more, saying, I will declare your name, the Father's name, to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praises to you. And speaking of Jesus and his humanity, as a man, as our brother, doing what we couldn't do flawlessly. Now we could sing praises, but we don't always sing praises flawlessly. We could have sang praises, but we would taint it with the deadness of our sin. trespass. Somebody had to do it perfectly. Somebody had to do it righteously. We couldn't, therefore He could. Verse 13, and again notice this, I will put my trust in who? That is Jesus saying I'll put my trust in the Father. I will put my faith in Him, the Father. Why? Because how is He living? He's living by grace. He's living by grace. So it's the perfect grace and the perfect faith of Jesus that is bestowed upon our life because our lives are gonna be imperfect. Even our faith will be imperfect. We're not always gonna trust Him. We're not always gonna do what Jesus did. But see, Jesus did it in our place. And His life then is what? Accredited to our life. So every aspect of His life is accredited to us. When we then put our trust and believe Him for who He is, He's got solution and answer for all our lives. We trust Him with it. So verse number 13, the second part of it, and again, he says, here am I and the children whom God has what? There's that given again. You'll never get away from it. God gave him these children. In 17, he says, they were yours. They were in the world, but they were yours, and you gave them to me. You gave them to me. sent me in fear. That's right, that's right. We looked at Caiaphas, remember Caiaphas' prophecy that he didn't even know what he was saying, that Jesus was gonna die, though he didn't know it in this relationship, he thought he was just gonna keep Rome off of their back. He prophesied being the high priest, but he had no clue what he was saying, but God spoke through him and said that he would be a substitute, not only for the nation, but also for all the children of God who were spread abroad. That is, that's the given ones. That's the ones who's been given in the grace of God to the Son. And the Son ain't ashamed to call us His brothers. Why? Because He stood in our place. He believed when we wouldn't believe. He trusted when we wouldn't trust. He walked where we wouldn't walk. He did what we couldn't do. And therefore, when we put our confidence in Him, the Father then gives us His life. His righteousness, and He took our sin to the cross. Man, and that changes a man. That's where Ephesians says, look, you've been created in Christ Jesus for good works. You're God's workmanship for good works that He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. That's where we see the love of God manifest in that. Now look over in Romans 5. Look in Romans 5 and we'll see this applied in how you have the grace of God and the grace of the one man, Jesus. Oftentimes in our teaching and preaching of grace, it's always about what we receive, but it's ever rarely highlighted the fact that Jesus lived in our place in grace. Jesus lived in our place in that. He tasted death by the grace of God. So when you look at chapter five of Romans, look in verse 15. But the free gift is not like the offense, taking us back to Adam's fall, the sin. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God, that's that Ephesians that we're talking about, That's what we just said, the grace of God that Jesus lived by, the grace of God and the what? Gift by the grace of the one man, that's Jesus. Jesus Christ abounded to many. So you see how it gives a two-fold picture of this, that Jesus lived by the grace of God and because he did it flawlessly, he then now can offer us the gift of his life. that lived in our place and therefore bestow upon us the gift of grace, which is his righteousness. Because you see the root, the grace of God, you see the result of it, the grace of the one man, Jesus, doing what we couldn't do. And then the reward of it, he's got many sons. that he brings the glory, amen. Man, it's beautiful when it's brought to light that we see that what Ephesians is teaching us. If you go back to, y'all see what I'm saying and understanding that? You got the grace of God and then the grace of the one man. And that grace is the gift of righteousness. And that goes back to salvation. If salvation was strictly by the love of God, everybody would be saved. Because God loves, that's just who He is. So many people today believe that. Based on the fact that He loves me so much that He doesn't want me to change in any kind of way or He's not gonna change me. He created me the way I am. and he loves me just the way that I am, and I'm good because of his love. But see, it wasn't his love that rescues men, and it is, it is, but it had to be the grace of God of somebody standing in our place, and that grace changes a man to be a vessel that now stands in love of God, where before we didn't love God. But because of what he's done now, we can love him, we can love his son, we can love his people. Look at Ephesians, you'll see what I'm talking about. Ephesians 1. Y'all bear with me quick, because we'll have to get out front. Look in verse 1. Ephesians 1, 1. Excuse me, 1, 3. 1, 3. Blessed be the God and father of who? Lord Jesus Christ. Talking about the Father who has what? Blessed us with every spiritual or supernatural blessing. These are blessings that you can't necessarily see. They're spiritual blessings. So they're not always seen. The natural world can't see them. We can see them because we've been blessed. But unless you've been blessed, you won't see these spiritual blessings. So spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in who? In Christ. You could substitute that in Christ and just say by grace. That's what that means, by grace. Now notice what verse four says. just as, that is saying in harmony with, in step with, seeing that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in what? See, that is where the rubber meets the road. We go from being haters and being rejecters and being at enmity with all this to now standing before Him or in His presence, living in His presence today in love of Him, of His Son and His work and the people that He's put in our lives to walk with Him, that we would be holy and blameless in Him in love. having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. Aren't you glad he initiated it, amen? He's done this wondrous work. Matter of fact, I'm gonna read verse three again. I'm gonna skip verse four and just go into verse five and you will see how it just runs in perfect harmony. Verse three says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Verse five, having what? Predestined us to adoptions as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself. So what verse four does is qualify the fact that this supernatural spiritual blessing came to us because the Father decided to do something before time ever began. If that didn't happen, none of this would happen. He chose us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of the world that we would be holy, blameless, and in love, that that's the position we would take up. We could never do that if Jesus didn't clothe himself in the grace of God, taste death for us, so that he would be able to ransom us in time, and that we could stand before Him, holy, blameless, and in love, amen? Because He has predestined to adopt us, remember, the many sons of glory, that's what that's referring to, and that in Him, Jesus, we have redemption through the forgiveness of His blood, to the praise of the glory of His grace. He uses that phrase three times in these first 13 verses, to the praise of His glory. to the praise of the glory of His grace, to the praise of the glory of His grace. Why? Why do we bless Him? Because He's richly blessed us, amen? We return it. Yesterday when we went to that funeral, it was a beautiful funeral. They blessed brother Hack and really the word that you see here in verse three and both of those word blessing is the word eulogy. It means to return a good word. a return of a good word. We get the word echo out of it. What is an echo? Something that reverberates. It goes forth and it bounces back. You see, the reason we can bless Him with an echo of a good word is because He initiated it and sent the word forth. And it has permeated and transferred us and now it returns back to Him. in a good word of our life. And that is what Ephesians 2 is saying. You were dead, you were disobedient, you were deceived in darkness, but God chose to do something in your life. And when you were in that position, while you were in that position, He made you alive. And by grace you have been saved through faith. You are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Poiemia, the word workmanship is the word poiemia. We get the word poem from. When an artist takes words and pieces them together to write a poem to speak a message out or create a work of art, that's what that workmanship is. We're the poiemia, the artwork or the display of his grace. That's what we are. He's done something in us. And you've heard me say, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, got webbed feet like a duck, got feathers like a duck, swims like a duck, it's probably a duck, amen. And his workmanship, his disciples, his believers, they have characteristics too. And one of the main characteristics is they go from being an enemy to the grace and the will and the work of God to being in love with him. Being in love with his people, being in love with his word, being in love with telling people what he's done for them, amen. Man, if it looks like a disciple, smells like a disciple, lives like a disciple, repents like a disciple, loves like a disciple, walks like a disciple, it's a disciple, amen. Just like the duck. So y'all know I carry my ducks around, huh? Yesterday I was in a place and I pulled some money out and my duck fell to the ground. Somebody said, man, that sounds like a, That's not like a ruby or a diamond fell out. And I said, oh, it's probably a little more of value than that. I said, here, I'm gonna give it to you. So that cashier, when I was standing there, I said, let me give you this duck. It was a white one. And I shared that same thing. I said, I carry these in my pocket just to remind people a duck is a duck is a duck. But the question would be, has Jesus made you a new creature in Christ who is a disciple of his, that when people see you, they say, that's a disciple. Why? Because they recognize the characteristics of a disciple in your life. Man, you love Jesus. You love his people. You love his message. You love telling his message. You love him, you smell, man, disciples learn how to repent as a way of life, amen. They don't have everything together, they just cast everything on him who does have it together. So I say, look, a duck is a duck is a duck, but so is a disciple. And if you've never been made a disciple, you need to be interrupted by Jesus. So I give him that duck, said, I want you to remember that, I set it on the counter. He said, I appreciate that, ain't nobody ever gave me a duck. I said, well, it's always a new day. Yeah, yeah. Well, amen, amen, amen. Let's pray. Thank you, Jesus, for this time. Thank you, thank you. We love you. Thank you for your revelation. We couldn't see it unless you opened it up to us. So Lord, we come before you now asking you for your help. I pray for Brother Jim as he shares with us today about the Gideon's work, that you would honor that, bless that, use us to be a part of it. And we thank you for your kindness and in your investment in us. In Jesus' name, amen.