Well, good morning. Good, good, good. Take your Bible and find Ephesians chapter two. Would you do so, Ephesians chapter two? While you're turning it, I thought I'd take a few moments and tell you a joke. It'd be a good one. Did you guys hear about the little ant that was very, very confused? Because he found out that all of his uncles were ants. That's pretty good, wasn't it? Wasn't that worth coming to this service for right there? I mean, that was worth it. Did you just now get that? Oh, you told him. Good for you. Alright, Ephesians chapter 2. We're going to be reading the first 10 verses and I'll have you follow along as I do. Beginning in verse 1. And you hath he quickened. The word quicken is the word that means made alive. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Now how many of you are familiar with these verses? Are you? Most of us would certainly know verses 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, as any man should boast. I want to use this text, these 10 verses, so keep your Bible open. We're going to refer to a lot of verses here just right in this passage. And I'm going to title my message, Look What the Lord Has Done. Just very simply, I've preached many times in these verses, and without any doubt, this passage explains how to be saved. How many of you ever heard somebody talk about how to be saved from these verses? Have you heard that? That's how most of them always preach it myself. I have an outline I use if you take notes and like to keep outlines. In the first three verses, I call it the plight of a sinner. The plight of a sinner. A sinner in verse 1 is dead. Do you see that in verse 1? Look at verse 1. Everybody look at verse 1. Do you see verse 1? A sinner is dead. How many of you saw that? You got that in verse 1? Look in verse 2 and notice that the sinner, what does it mean to be a sinner? He's going the wrong direction. Do you see that in verse 2? According to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, a sinner is going the wrong direction. So that when a person is not saved, Isaiah says it like this, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of his soul. So that when you were not saved, you were not only dead, you were going the wrong direction. Look at the end of verse 2. You got your Bible? There's another D in verse 2. Tell me what it is. The sinner is dead, he's going the wrong direction, and watch number 3. He's disobedient. Did y'all see that one? So that God says don't do it and we do it. Or God says do it and we don't do it. That's called sin. Sin is transgressing the law. So God gives us a command. God gives us a law and we disobey it. That is disobedience to Almighty God. You're all aware of that, aren't you? That's nothing new, is it? So this is... What does it mean to be a sinner? He's dead, in verse 1. He's going the wrong direction, in verse 2. And he's disobedient to Almighty God. And in verse 3, look at the end of verse 3. Do you see this phrase? and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." I'm going to use this word gently and say it softly, but here's what that verse is saying. It's saying that a sinner is damned. To be a sinner means that I'm on my way to hell, that I'm condemned, that I'm doomed, that I'm in trouble with Almighty God. Hell is a serious matter, teenagers. Is this a serious text? It's using the strongest possible language. We're dead. We're going the wrong direction. We're disobedient. I say it gently. We're damned to eternity in hell. But I love the next two words in verse 4. You see the two words in verse 4? What are they? First two words in verse 4, what are they? Oh no, give it some feeling. But God. Can you say it like that? What's the first two words in verse 4? You've got to get them just like that. But God, look in verse 1, you and I are dead. Watch the first two words in verse 4. But God, isn't that wonderful? You and I are going the wrong direction. Watch the first two words in verse 4. and you and I are disobedient." But what does he say in verse 4? But God, and we are on our way to hell. But God. I love that transition in verse 4. And here's the transition. The first three verses is the plight of a sinner and the next few verses is the provision of a Savior. Now you believe in Jesus Christ, don't you? But God, He intervened in our life and provided a Savior. Does that thrill your heart? That you don't have to go to hell? that you can have eternal life, that through Jesus Christ you can be saved, born again, a child of God, in the family of God, your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life in heaven, and you be on your way to heaven as part of God's family. Isn't that a wonderful thing? And here's why it's true. Because of what God did. But God, who is rich in mercy, He provided a Savior. You find the Savior in verse 5. He hath quickened us together with Christ. At the end of verse 6, in Christ Jesus. At the end of verse 7, through Christ Jesus. It's the provision of a Savior. Now Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He was with without sin, you and I are sinners, He is without sin, you and I deserve hell, He owns heaven, and He came and took our place. He died in our stead, so that I'm not going to heaven because I'm a preacher, I'm going to heaven because of Jesus Christ. How many of you believe that to be true? Do you believe that to be true? That's the provision of a Savior. And Jesus died and was buried and was raised from the dead in order that you might have eternal life. How many of you are saved today? Are you saved today? Isn't it wonderful that Jesus did that for you? When He hung on the cross, it was for you. When He suffered and was beaten so severely that He no longer even looked human, He was doing it for you. He was taking your place. He was suffering your hell. He was doing it all so that you could have eternal life and be on your way to heaven. That is a wonderful thing that Jesus Christ came for you. Do you believe that? It's a wonderful thing. And then here's the plan of salvation, verses 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, as any man should boast. It involves grace. Say the word grace. Grace is unmerited favor. It's everything God has done for us that we could not do for ourselves. It's everything God has done in order that we might be saved. Think about what God has done in your life. Some of you are like Dr. Jackson. The Lord allowed you to have parents that were saved and you grew up around the Lord and knowing the Lord. That's grace. That's what God did in your life. He not only sent Jesus to die for your sins and be buried and be raised from the dead. That's grace. He did all of that so you could have eternal life. He gave some of you Christian parents. That's grace. He lets you go to the church you attend. That's grace. Somebody came into your life and told you about Jesus. That's grace. Here it is in the passage, getting saved. The plan of salvation involves grace, then it involves faith. You see the word faith? It involves grace, that's number one. It involves faith, that's the second word here. And faith is your responsibility. Lord, I know I'm a sinner, and I know I can't save myself, and I know I deserve to go to hell, and I'm in trouble, and I don't want to go to hell, and I believe Jesus died for my sin, and I'm trusting Him as my Savior. That's all summed up in the word faith. And then notice, just to make sure we don't misunderstand it, it's not of yourselves. How many of you know that you can't save yourself? Would you raise your hand goodnight? How many of you know that you don't know how to get to heaven? Are you aware of that? You can't do it. It's not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. What's the best gift you've ever received? Now, I know spiritually we would say getting saved, wouldn't we? But just be practical. What's the best gift you've ever been given? I have a wonderful wife. That was a great gift from God. The Bible says, he that findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord. Well, the day I got married, 18 years ago this Sunday, the day I got married, I obtained great favor from God, that was a great gift. And I have a daughter named Abigail, that was a great gift. And then Joshua, my son Joshua, that was a great gift. And then God gave us Matthew, that was a great gift. And I have Jacob, that was a great gift. And I have Charity, that was a great gift. God's been so good to me. I'd say those were gifts, what wonderful gifts. I've gotten so many wonderful gifts. I have on the platform here this morning a knife. It's just a pocket knife, but it's a W.H. William Henry. A guy gave me this, and I said, well, thank you. It's a nice pocket knife. And then I looked it up and found out that this knife's worth about $400. That is a nice gift. He gave me a $400 pocket knife. I mean, that's impressive, isn't it? You want it? Tough. That's a nice gift. I've got a lot of great gifts. Last week, I was in a meeting in Michigan, and a guy came over on Wednesday night, and he said, hey, brought you my car, thought I'd let you drive it. You can have it until tomorrow night's service. And he gave me a Corvette. That was a nice gift, just for $24. That's a good gift. Don't you think that's a good gift? I looked good driving that car. I had a good period, but in that car, man, I looked really good. I had a birthday this year, and I was in Florida, Atlanta Lakes, First Baptist Church, Atlanta Lakes, and I was there on my birthday. And on my birthday, guys in the church found out that I love motorcycles. And so they all got together, and they went and rented me for an entire day a Harley Davidson. Gave me for a whole day. Those were good gifts. But I want you to know, and you know this in your heart, there's no gift like the Lord Jesus. The gift of God, I can be saved, I can have eternal, are y'all with me or not this morning? That's a great gift. You'll never have another gift better than that. You deserve to go to hell and God has offered you eternal life. Here's the plan of salvation. And verse nine says, just so you don't misunderstand it, it is not of, say the word. Not of works. Say it again. Not of... I never preach in Ephesians chapter 2 without remembering a service in Lipa City, Philippines. Bible Baptist Church in Lipa City, Philippines. And I got in late on Saturday night and the pastor dropped us off at a motel. And he told me, he said, I'm going to give you my cell phone. And he said, if you have anything, you can call me. My number is on there. And so you have a cell phone. And he said, I'll pick you up in the morning. And the guy that was with me, my assistant, Brother Corn, he said, Brother Corn, I'll have you preach in Sunday school. And Brother Dave, I'll have you preach in the morning service. And we're sure excited you're here. And so the next morning, time for him to pick us up. Rolled around. He didn't pick us up. So we're waiting in the Philippines, that happens because the traffic's horrible, and we're waiting and waiting. He didn't pick us up. And finally, my phone rang, his cell phone, and I looked at it, and so I, well, I'll answer. So I answered, and he was like, Brother Dave, he said, this is Pastor Vito, and I'm coming. He said, I'm coming to get you. I can't wait to tell you. And he hung up. OK. So he picks me up a few months later, and he's just glowing. And I get in his vehicle, and he said, last night I left you at the motel, and I thought, we have two evangelists, and they're gonna tell people how to be saved. And he said, I called everybody at my church, and I said, you gotta come over to the church, and let's have prayer about tomorrow. And he said, we prayed for an hour or so, and then we took the rest of the night, and we've been trying to think, who can we get here tomorrow to be saved? And he said, the building is full. The building is full. And he said, many, many, many people unsaved, they've come to hear you. We've worked all night to get people there to hear you. And I went into service at his pack. There was 28 soldiers in uniform. One man from the military base in town brought 28 soldiers with him to the service to hear the message on how to be saved. And man, I love preaching. I was preaching like this, and I got down here to these Ephesians 5, verses 8 and 9, Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved through faith. And I said, now, does that make sense of what it means? I explained grace. I said, does that make sense, what Jesus has done for you, that he's the only way to heaven? And people started talking back to me. The Filipinos are rather quiet. They started talking back. They were like, yes, yes. And I said, and you've got to be saved by grace through faith. I said, do you understand that Jesus is on the way to heaven and you've got to trust him to get you to heaven? And I said, do you understand that? You know, a lot of times you say something like that when you're preaching and you just expect people to look at you. Well, they started talking back. Yes, we understand. And I said, do you understand it's not of works? I said, do you understand that? It was silent. Because that's what they believe. They believe you've got to work your way to heaven. And I said, now wait a minute, wait a minute. Listen, I said, how many of you believe that getting baptized is a good thing? Yes! We believe that. And I said, but the Bible says, do you believe the Bible? Yes! But the Bible says going to heaven is not of works. Do you believe the Bible? Yes! So, well, getting baptized gets you to heaven? They said, no. It starts dawning, and I watch this crowd of unsaved people, and all of a sudden the lights are dawning, and I can see it. I thought I was going to heaven because I'm baptized, but no, that won't save me. I said, how many of you believe that going to church is a good thing? Yes. But what does the Bible say about going to heaven? It's not, and they said it, it's not of work. So can you go to heaven because you go to church? No. And I will never forget giving the invitation. And there was, I mean, they just started coming. 28 adults saved in that service that came to be saved. I love preaching this passage. I don't know how many times I've preached those words. The plight of a sinner, the provision of a savior, the plan of salvation. I love this passage. But a few weeks ago. I was reading through this text, and I got to looking at this, and here's how I saw it. Look what the Lord has done. I don't have law, let me show you that. Look in verse four, look in verse four. There are several things here. This passage not only demonstrates how to be saved, it demonstrates what the Lord has done for us. And teenagers, I want you to get this, I want you to memorize this, I want you to let it thrill your heart this morning before we go to lunch. Here it is, look in verse four. Number one, he loved us. Number one, he loved us. I want you to look at somebody around you and I want you to say that to them. I want you to say, did you get that? Say it, say it. Say, He loved us. I want you to get that. Look at me young people, look at me. He loved us! Did you understand this? The Bible says right here, for His great love we're with, He loved us. Now how many of you, how many of you know, how many of you know that all of us are sinners? Raise your head and goodnight. You know that all of us are sinners. Now be honest, isn't that something we get used to saying? We're all sinners. But honestly, don't we really think of ourselves as... I mean, I know we're sinners, but after all, it's me. Anybody here like that? I mean, don't we kind of think, we're pretty good people. Here's how the Bible describes you and me as sinners. I think things like this, we're beggars. You ever seen a beggar? You ever smelled a beggar? I don't mean to be silly, have you? Have you ever been walking on the street and here's a guy that hasn't had a bath in many days and for whatever reason he's a beggar on a street corner and he reeks? That's how the Bible describes me and you as a sinner. We're a beggar. Phrases like this would describe me and you as a sinner. We're just a dead dog. We're a dead dog. Here's how the Bible describes me and you as a sinner. As the dog returns to his vomit. Words like that to describe us as sinners. That's kind of a graphic picture, wouldn't you say? That's always a thrilling thing when your dog does that, isn't it? You know, he eats, and he's a little upset at his stomach, so he brings it back up, and then he turns around and eats it? And you're like, cool. Well, not hardly. That's kind of a disgusting thing. That's how the Bible sees us. Hey, one of my heroes... I'm careful about saying that. I don't like to use that word. That can be misleading and even dangerous at times. But one of my heroes is a guy named Roger Billiones. You know Roger Billiones? You shouldn't, probably. Roger Billiones. is an older preacher in a village in the Philippines. And many, many years ago, he left his high, there are not many high-paying jobs in the Philippines. It's a very poor place. This man had a really good job in the military, and he left it. You know why he left it? Because he felt like God was calling him to start a church in a place where nobody had ever planted a church and refused to go. It was in the leper colony. Nobody ever went to the leper colony to tell them about Jesus because leprosy was very contagious. And the leper colony was a separate place and it was a disgusting, smelly, filthy place that could give you a disease that would cause you to die. And he felt God wanted him to go there, so he did. Brother Bilioni has spent years in the leper colony. He has three churches there now. And he went in the leper colony and hugged them. Nobody hugged the lepers. Roger Bilionis moved his wife and little babies into the leper colony years ago. His boys are now grown. One of them pastors a church in the leper colony himself. And he moved his little boys and his wife into the leper colony, and they just go door to door and hug them and tell them about Jesus. I remember one day that Brother Bilionis told me that there was a part of the leper colony that nobody went, and it was where the lepers were blind. The leprosy had taken their eyeballs. It had eaten their eyeballs away. And nobody would go near them. And so when a person was blind as a leper, they moved him into one big kind of a dormitory and nobody ever went to clean it up. Nobody ever went and they couldn't clean themselves. And literally, I don't mean this to be inappropriate, but it's the truth. They used the bathroom right in that dormitory and never cleaned it up. Brother Bilioni said, when you started walking in the direction of that dormitory where the blind lepers were, it literally would make you sick in your stomach. You'd feel like throwing up. That's how bad the stench was. But he said, I felt like God wanted me to go tell him about the love of God. So he said, Brother Young, he told me the story. He said, Brother Young, he said, I literally would go in there with my Bible. and I would stand by the window. I walked in, introduced myself to these blind people. I could hardly breathe. And he said, I started in John 3.16, for God, and he said, I literally would lean my head out the window and I'd take a breath. I'd come back in, so loved, and I'd have to stick my head out the window to take a breath. I love that man. I wish he could be here today. I wish you could meet him. I've never met a man who has sacrificed like that, to go to people who are unlovely, people who nobody would touch, people who nobody would talk to, people who nobody would hug and touch. And I went to his church and preached the last time I was there, and I met lepers in his church that have no ears, and their nose was eaten away, and they have no digits on their hand, all their fingers are gone, or maybe their arm is gone because the leprosy ate it, and all of them hugged all over Brother Roger. This is their pastor. This is the man that told them about Jesus. This is the man that gave his life to them. They love that man. And he loves them. And I'll tell you this about Roger Bilionis. He's the happiest man I've ever met in my life. give up a high-paying job to move into a leper colony and tell them about the love of God and he's happy. I love to hear the men sing. He's got a leper that picks an electric guitar and travels with him. And this leper, he only has a thumb. That's all he's got left. And he pushes on those little knobs to get the notes and he plays this. And Billy just kind of strums the chords. And Brother Bilioni sings. And every time he sings, he gets happy. Well, that doesn't mean anything to y'all, but I was raised in the South and East Tennessee, and people get happy in churches there when they do. They kind of shout. Like when I go to church when I was a boy, people would get to singing, and if they got, you know, kind of happy, sometimes they'd go, right in the middle of the service, they'd go, woo! And it's scary you have silly, you know. Or sometimes they'd wave their hands, or their hankies, or their baby, or whatever they had, you know. And they'd, woo, hallelujah, woo! They'd call that getting happy. Well, Brother Bilionis, he's not from East Tennessee and the mountain churches, but he'd get happy. And he'd gotta be singing about the love of God, and the next thing you know, he'd start laughing and start preaching in the middle of his sermon. Woo, and it's just, I love that man. You know what, I'm gonna tell you, when God looked at me and you as sinners, He saw us like those blind beggars in that room, in the rags of our sin, in filth and deserving of hell. And verse 4 says, He loved us. Look what the Lord has done. Teenagers, He loved you. Look at verse 5. Look what the Lord has done. Are you ready for this? He quickened us. Even when we were dead, He had quickened us, made us alive together with Christ. We're no longer dead in our sins. He quickened us. Remember when you got saved? Remember when you got saved? He quickened you that day. You were dead. You were on your way to hell and Almighty God did a work in your life and He awakens you spiritually so that now you're alive in Christ. Teenagers, that ought to thrill your soul. You know what a lot of you do? Here's what a lot of you do. You go to church week after week, and here you are. Okay, I'm in church. And somebody gets up to sing, and they sing a song about the love of God or whatever, and we're like, we're gonna be done. We've gotten over what he did for us. He loved us. He quickened us. There's another one. He saved us. Look at that in verse 5. The last word, by grace, ye are saved. He saved us. That word means to be rescued. We've been rescued from our sins. We've been rescued from hell. Look in verse 6. He raised us up together. How many of you know about the Apostle Paul? Raise your hand if you know about the Apostle Paul. Let me see your hand if you know about the Apostle Paul. Did you know that you got saved the same way the Apostle Paul did? He raised us up together. You know, in the Lord's work, I told you last night about, you know, some people are impressive, right? I told you about, you know, like I remember when I first met Dr. Jackson. Untouchable, impressive, big shot. And I was just a young, upstart, getting started evangelist. I remember when I first met Dr. Tice. Do you remember that, Dr. Tice? Years and years ago, I came to your church on that Friday night with that ensemble. Remember that? You don't remember that, do you? I remember that Josh was 14, but Josh was small. And I offended him, because I said, so how old are you, pal? Like, 11? And Josh was like, I'm 14. I was like, oh, I'm sorry. You don't look it, but sure. See, Pastor Tyson was impressive. He was impressive. But you don't want to taste that. You know what I realized in this passage? I got saved the same way Dr. Jackson got saved. I was raised up together with David Tice. I got saved the same way the Apostle Paul got saved. That's what it means here. He has raised us up together. Some are impressive, some are nobodies. There's a lot of people that are saved that you don't know and you never will know them. You never heard of Roger Bilionis. I just told you about him. But someday in heaven, you're going to be in heaven with a guy named Roger Bilionis who planted a church in a leper colony in a back village somewhere in the Philippines. Let me tell you something. That man got saved the same way you did. And you got saved the same way he did. He raised it. Look what the Lord has done. He loved us. He quickened us. He saved us. He raised us up together. But not only with each other, with each other, with each other. He raised us up together with Jesus Christ. You remember Jesus Christ that was raised from the dead. The day you got saved, the same way God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, what he said in this verse is he raised you from the dead the same way. I hope that'll thrill your heart this morning. I hope you'll stop today and think about the fact of what the Lord has done for you. I know we take it for granted. I know we get over it. But here's the point. Look what the Lord has done. He loved us. He quickened us. He saved us. He raised us up together. Look in verse 6. He set us right with Jesus Christ. And has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You know this phrase? I'm with Him. You know that phrase? I'm with him. I, uh, went to the Pentagon last year, two years ago now, I guess. And I got a back, uh, kind of a behind the scenes tour of the Pentagon because in the revival where I was preaching, it was actually a family conference where I was preaching. There was a guy there who was a Lieutenant Colonel who worked in the Pentagon. And we got to go all kinds of places in the Pentagon because we're with him. were with Him. We got to go into offices that if you showed up for a tour of the Pentagon, you couldn't go into. But we got to go because we were with Him. Teenagers, I want to tell you something. I'm going to use this as holy ground, but I hope you'll get this today. Has it ever dawned on you that when you got saved, you're with Him? You're with Him. You know why I'm going to heaven? Because someday when it comes time for me to die, listen to me, when it comes time for me to die and I get to glory, the truth of the matter is, the reason I'm gonna be there, watch this now, is because I'm with Him, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died for my sins and was buried and was raised from the dead. I'm nobody, I'm nothing, but I am with Him. That ought to thrill your heart. You don't have to be good enough to go to heaven, you just gotta be with Him. That's a glorious truth. And then look here. He created us. He created us. That's in verse 10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Now the word created implies not just better and not just different, but brand new. Now look. Look at verse 1. Connect it to verse 1. Verse 1 says we are dead. Y'all see the word? Say the word dead. Okay. Now, is there a difference in a 4-year-old who's not saved and a 40-year-old who's not saved? Answer that. Is there a difference in that? Okay, I heard yes and no, so which is it? No, if you're talking about dead. Yes, perhaps, if you're talking about decay. What's the only difference in a four-year-old person who's dead? It's the level of decay. Now, I learned this from my youth pastor at our home church recently. He was preaching about this, and he preached about that, and I learned, and I thought I'd never seen, I'd never, I mean, I guess I'd seen it, but I hadn't thought about it. A four-year-old is as dead as a 40-year-old, but there's a different level of decay. Now think on that. How many of you got saved when you were 4, 5, 6, or 7, or earlier than 10? How many of you got saved earlier than 10? All right, now look, that's most of you. Raise your hand good and high. Look at it again. Now, many of you, you weren't that bad. As far as the world would look at you, it'd say, well, she was only 5, or she was only 6, or she was 7, or she was 8. But you were as dead as the most wicked person that lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. You were as dead as the most wicked person that lives in Castle Rock, Colorado or Fort Collins. You were dead, period, dead. The level of decay is all that was different. You may have not ruined your life. You may have never tried drugs. I hope you never have. I hope you're like Brother Jackson and you've never tasted a drop of alcohol. I hope you're that way. I hope that's true in your life. But you nonetheless are as dead as the most wicked person that ever lived. There's just a varying level of decay. And so God has to create a four-year-old brand new. Do you see this? He has to create it brand new. So you were five when you got saved. Or you were six or you were seven. Listen, you were dead. And the same God that loves the wicked sinner loves you. And that has to quicken the wicked sinner has to quicken every sinner. He created us brand new. so that you're no longer what you used to be. You're no longer a sinner going to hell. You're no longer lost without Jesus Christ. You're no longer in trouble with Almighty God. You are now part of the family. You're on your way to heaven. Your name is written down in heaven. Teenagers, that ought to thrill your soul. And a lot of you, it means nothing to you. You're just taking it for granted? I'm saying. But look at what He's done. He loved us. He quickened us. He saved us. He raised us together. He sat us right with Jesus Christ and He created us. He created us. We're brand new. Now we can walk a new road. We can walk a new way. We can walk a new life. How many of you ever get discouraged as a Christian? And you feel like, I know I ought to do better than I do, but I don't. Has that ever happened in your life? Listen, this ought to encourage you. The Bible says we're His workmanship. Here's what that means. He's still working on us! I learned a little song when I was in the sixth grade. My grandmother asked me to go to Vacation Bible School at her home, at her home church, and so I went. And the theme song for that week of Vacation Bible School was a little song that I'm sure you've heard it. It says, He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be. How many of you know that song? You know that song? He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be. It took him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth Jupiter and Mars, how loving and patient He must be, He's still working on me." It's a great song. I love that little song. Now look, I learned that in the 6th grade, but I learned it again when I got to verse 10. See, it's so easy for you teens to get discouraged and throw in the towel, but look what the Lord has done. He did say He loved you, He quickened you, He saved you, He raised you up together with Jesus Christ, He set you right with Jesus Christ, and He made you brand new, and He's not done with you. Look what the Lord has done. Look at all He's done in your life. He understands when you struggle. He understands when you get careless. And He looks into your life, and if you'll let Him, He'll work in your life. And He'll develop you and grow you. And 20 years from today, you'll be better than you are. You'll be growing in the Lord. God will still be working in your life. This is a thrilling text. Look what the Lord has done. And I want to suggest to you, He's not done with you yet. Verse 7, let me close in verse 7 and I'll be out of time. In verse 7, I love verse 7. I can't preach on verse 7. I can't do verse 7 justice. I'm not even totally sure I understand everything about verse 7, but I love this verse. Look at verse 7. That in the ages to come, alright, in the years to come, in eternity, how many of you believe that you're going to be alive in eternity, do you? Alright, here's a verse about that. That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Now let me ask you a question. What are you going to do in heaven? What are you going to do in heaven? I know we know answers to that, don't we? I mean, we think we do. What does Hollywood say we're going to do in heaven? We're going to sit on white fluffy clouds with a long flowing robe and play a what? How many of you love harp music? Raise your hand good and high. Aren't you excited about playing that harp in heaven for all of eternity? Now, I like romantic harp music. When my wife and I celebrated our fifth anniversary, we went to Baja, Bahmain. And I took her out to eat on the day of our anniversary at this place called The Reading Room, overlooking the bay there on the Atlantic Ocean. And there was a big yacht that was sailing out, the sun was setting, it was beautiful. And they had this harpist in that room that played the harp the whole time. It was a beautiful, gorgeous, romantic meal. I can handle that kind of harp music, but I don't think I want to sit on a white fluffy cloud with a little golden halo. I mean, play a harp all my eternity? Do you? When I went to Pensacola Christian College as a student in 1988, years and years ago, back in another dispensation. When I went to Pensacola Christian College in 1988, we had cassettes. And what they made you do in those days, the college I attended, is they made you turn in all of your music. And then they would approve it. And if your music passed inspection, they'd put a little rubber stamp on it, which meant you could listen to it on the campus. And if it didn't pass inspection, they kept it, and you got it back at the end of the semester, and you had to take it home and not bring it back. Well, I turned in all of my cassettes, and you know what? None of my cassettes passed except for one. Pastor Tice, I got one cassette back that I'd never listened to. It was a cassette of harp music. I got one cassette back, and I look at this hard cassette, the only cassette I got back, and I thought, what am I doing at this college? I mean, what am I here for? That's the only music I have that passes there. They didn't like bluegrass. They had bluegrass cassettes. You know what bluegrass is? Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. So my wife calls it anyway. My music didn't pass. But my heart music doesn't appeal to me. Here's what the Bible says we're going to do in heaven. Are you ready for this? That in the ages to come, He, that's God Almighty, might show us the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Get the point of this verse. How many of you believe that He loved us? How many of you believe, as verse 5 says, that He quickened us? How many of you believe that He saved us? How many of you believe that He raised us up together with Jesus Christ? Do you believe that? Do you believe that He sat us right with Jesus Christ? How many of you believe that? Do you believe that? How many of you believe that He created us? Let me see your hand. Do you believe that? He created us in Christ Jesus. Let me see your hand. How many of you believe that? Now take your heads down and look at me and catch this. You ain't seen nothing yet. That's what verse 7 is saying. You haven't seen anything yet. You haven't seen anything yet. Because Almighty God is going to take you home to heaven someday and spend... Has God been good to you? Answer that yes or no. Have you been blessed by God? Answer that yes or no. Alright, here's what He's going to do in heaven. You know how good He's been to you? In all of eternity. You haven't seen anything yet. Because when He's going to do it in eternity, in the ages to come, He's going to spend all of eternity showing us the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Teenagers, here's what you ought to think in your heart today. I want to go home. I want to go home. I want to go to that land. I want to be in a land where what God's going to do in absolute perfection is just bless us and bless us and bless us and bless us and be good to us. How do you describe this? How many of you have been to the Grand Canyon? You've been to the Grand Canyon? I took Joshua. Joshua's back there by Pastor Tice. I took Joshua to the Grand Canyon a number of years ago. and he and I were in Arizona, and I flew him out when we were preaching, and I was preaching, and he was with me, and so he wanted to go see the Grand Canyon. So we left Flagstaff, Arizona, and we went kind of east out of Flagstaff, and then we turned left and headed toward the canyon from the eastern side. And we came to this one place where the Navajo Indians are selling jewelry. And so we stopped, I stopped, and we looked at the jewelry. And then there was a path past where they were selling jewelry over to a little canyon over there. And I remember driving Josh over there, or walking Josh over to that canyon. And he looked, and it was impressive, it was impressive. I love canyons. And we're looking over into that canyon, and Josh is wowed. But I said to Josh, you haven't seen anything yet. You haven't seen anything yet. And an hour later, we're standing on the on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. And Josh says, whoa. How do you describe this verse? It's like the stars. How many of you ever stood in the city and looked up and seen the stars? Yeah, it's impressive, isn't it? I mean, there's stars up there. But how many of you ever, how many of you ever come to, how many of you ever come to camp at Colorado, and when the moon's not out, stepped outside on a dark night and saw those stars. See, when you're sitting in Las Vegas, and the lights of the city, you look up at the sky, wow, that's impressive. Look at those stars. You know where there's that green thing up in the air, and way over yonder is the lights of the Strip. But that's still impressive that God made those stars. Aren't those impressive? But when you stand in the city, you haven't seen anything yet. You go out to Flagstaff, Arizona, the dark city because of the Lowell Observatory, at 7,000 some elevation like we are here, and in that dark night, look up into the stars. It's like being married. Now, when Beth and I were courting, it was great. Oh my word, I was in love. This is wonderful. I can't get any better than this. We're in love. How many of you have ever been in love? How many of you have ever been in love? Come on, be honest. How many of you have never been in love? Never been in love. I mean, come on, it's okay. How many have never been in love? Oh, God bless all of you. Again, how many of you have been in love? You ever been in love? Isn't it sweet and romantic and wonderful? How many of you hope you'll be in love someday? Can I see your hand? How many of you don't care if you're ever in love or not? Anybody like that? Shame on a few of you. Now look, when you're in love, when you're in love, it's wonderful. How many of you have ever seen a couple and they're getting ready to be married and they're in love? Have you ever seen that? And they're like looking at each other. Have you ever seen a couple that's, they're not married yet but they're getting married and they're like out eating together and they're looking at each other? How many of you know what I'm talking about? You know what I'm talking about? Here's what you're thinking when you're dating and you're getting ready to be married. It can't get any better than this. I'm in love. You don't even say it right. You say, I'm in love. You can't get any better than this, but then you get married. You stand at the altar, and you say, I do, and you get married, and you know what? You find out, you ain't seen nothing yet. It's wonderful. You thought it was all romantic and happy, and it is, because you're courting. Then you get married, and you find out, man, it's far better to be married. Woo, bring it on. Are y'all making sense or not? Help me out here. Some of you are looking at me like, I can't believe he's saying that. See, here's what I'm trying to say. When you're courting, you haven't seen anything yet. You're going to get married and fall head over heels in love the rest of your life? Here's what he said in this passage. Look what the Lord has done in your life. He loved you. He quickened you. He saved you. He raised you up together with all those host of people that are already in heaven. And He raised you up the same way He raised up Jesus Christ. And look what He's done for you. He created you brand new. Brand new. I mean, in the sight of Almighty God, your sins are gone. They were washed away in the blood of Christ. He no longer looks at you. You're no longer a sinner. You're not His child. All the sins you've committed, they're gone. What does the Bible say? As far as the East is from the West, they're gone. They're buried in the depths of the sea. They're gone. They're cast behind His back. They're gone. I'll always remember a little story I heard about this little boy. His pastor was a modernist, liberal preacher. The little boy says to the pastor, he said, Pastor, I read in the Bible that Jesus Christ takes our sin and casts them behind His back. And the preacher said, what if God turns around? And the little boy said, well, his back would still be behind him, wouldn't it? Well, it's the truth, isn't it? Those sins are gone. Look what the Lord has done for you. But I want to close this hour with telling you this. We haven't seen anything yet. This is just the beginning. You haven't seen anything yet. And you ought to walk out of chapel today believing that in all of your heart. Isn't that a wonderful text? What a wonderful text. I'm sorry I didn't do it justice. I wish I could do it justice. This passage is glorious. And I suggest you ought to memorize it and you ought to underline those words. And every so often you ought to go back to them and you ought to just rejoice and say, thank you God for what you've done. And I can't wait to see what you're going to do. Father, bless us as we go to lunch now.