May 10, 2026 11:15 AM Service

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:21]window for sure.

[00:00:53]I don't know.

[00:02:34]Get reserved.

[00:02:58]Somebody I'm like Okay.

[00:06:02]What are you doing?

[00:07:33]I'm not sure.

[00:07:56]just in time or a little not just in time. Welcome to First Presbyterian Church and to our worship service here on this beautiful Mother's Day. I want to wish a happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there. Mothers, grandmothers, spiritual mothers. Keep in mind that when Christ's own mother came to him and wanted to speak to him, he said, "Who is my mother? Who is my brother?" But those who are with me. So if you are a woman who is mentoring another woman or children, you are a spiritual mother.

[00:08:30]And happy mother's day to you. Uh if you are a visitor here, we would love to meet you. Uh Dr. Stewart will be in the back. I'll be over here. Would love to give you the right hand of fellowship, introduce ourselves, and answer any questions that you might have. Speaking of which, at the end of your row should be a friendship register. If you haven't already, if you would take that, fill it out, and pass it on down the row. It's a great place for you to be able to list any prayer requests that you have. know that we will be praying for those prayer requests this very week. And if you're interested in learning more about us, there's a place for you to say that you would like to hear more about first prayers and maybe even go through our inquirers class. Now, I have a number of other announcements for us this morning.

[00:09:20]Today is also not only mother's day, but it is balorate Sunday. So, we extend congratulations to all of our graduates.

[00:09:30]Congratulations to you. And then it's time to begin thinking about our summer lecture series. Our summer lecture series will begin May 31st, the last Sunday of this month, and will run all the way through August 2nd. Uh our theme this year is before the face of God, great prayers of the Bible. Believe me, you will not want to miss any of those Sundays. And then lastly, we encourage you to join us this evening. We worship not only in the morning, but also in the evening at 6 pm. And our senior minister, Dr. Neil Stewart, will continue to lead us there.

[00:10:10]Now, let's take a moment to prepare our hearts and minds for the worship of God.

[00:10:30]I sing might the mountains rise that spread the flow seas and build the lofty skies.

[00:10:48]I sing the wisdom that the sun to rule the day.

[00:10:57]The moon shines full at his all the stars.

[00:11:07]I sing the goodness of the Lord that filled the earth with food.

[00:11:16]He formed the creatures with his word and then them good.

[00:11:26]Lord, how thy wonders are displayed where I turn my eyes.

[00:11:36]If I survey the ground I t or gaze upon the sky.

[00:11:46]There's not a plant or flower below.

[00:11:51]What makes thy glories known and clouds arise and tempest.

[00:12:00]Thy thy throne while all thats from thee is ever in thy care.

[00:12:15]And everywhere that man can be, thou God present there.

[00:12:36]Amen. And amen.

[00:12:40]Thankful for those manly voices leading us to the call to worship this morning.

[00:12:45]We're gathered here for the worship of Almighty God. And our call to worship comes from the 103rd Psalm.

[00:12:56]Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget none of his benefits. who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

[00:13:28]He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is the loving kindness of the Lord toward those who fear him. Amen and amen. Well, let us gather our hearts to worship Almighty God, singing hymn number 98. Now, thank we all our God.

[00:13:58]You'll find those words and tune on page six of your bulletin.

[00:14:27]be all with heart and hands and All the blessings of God is blessing.

[00:15:03]still is us today.

[00:15:09]Oh, through all the light be with joyful heart and bless us and keep us in his grace and guide us and free us from all in this world and all praise and praise to God the Father I Heat. Heat. Heat.

[00:16:21]Yeah.

[00:16:26]Heat.

[00:16:47]Heavenly Father, the one who deserves all praise and all thanks, we come to you this morning praising you and thanking you for your mercy and for your love. as the grandparent who stooped down to his sinful children and redeemed them and cleaned them and made made a way for them that they may become his fully and finally. And this was not cheap and it was not easy. It meant sending your own son, our Lord and Savior, our elder brother Jesus Christ.

[00:17:21]It meant taking to himself all of our sins and dying the death that we deserved so that he might give to us his righteousness. It's because of that righteousness and that alone. Nothing because of what we do or say, nothing in our hands that we bring, but because of Christ that we ask that you would send your Holy Spirit in full measure this morning. That he would help to liven our worship. that we would be those who would worship you in spirit and in truth. And that as we hear your word preached and sung and prayed, it would do its work upon our hearts be lived out by our hands that people might see you and thereby you and you alone get all the glory and honor. And we pray this in the name of the one who taught us all to pray, saying, "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, >> thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

[00:18:39]Amen.

[00:18:41]>> Now let us confess our faith together using the words of the Apostles Creed.

[00:18:46]Christian, what is it that you believe?

[00:18:50]I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontious Pilot, was crucified, dead, and buried.

[00:19:10]>> He descended into hell.

[00:19:12]>> The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and siteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From then he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

[00:19:26]>> I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

[00:19:39]Amen.

[00:19:49]Glory be to God.

[00:19:54]Glory be to God the Son.

[00:19:59]Glory be to the Holy Spirit.

[00:20:04]Bing all the churches as it was in the beginning as now and shall be world without end.

[00:20:31]Amen and amen. Please take your seats.

[00:20:36]Well, this morning we come to baptize young Carter Lee Jones, who's the son of Carrie and Kyle Jones into the membership of First Presbyterian Church.

[00:20:47]And we do that because God is a God who makes and keeps covenants that transcend the generations.

[00:20:55]That's the way God is. He is a God who remembers his covenant to a thousand generations with those who fear him and keep his commandments. That's not simply the way that God likes chose to behave at 9:35 a.m. thousands of years ago.

[00:21:11]It's the way God has always been and will always be. Now, there are many dear brothers who say we should only baptize believers. And they say that baptism is always connected to faith in the New Testament. And I would agree baptism is a sign of conversion. But of course, so is circumcision in the Old Testament.

[00:21:33]Circumcision was a sign of our need to have our heart the the flesh of our heart cut off. And it was a sign of faith. Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith before he was circumcised. So the gospel in the Old Testament was repent and be circumcised, you and your household, and you will be saved. Believe in the Messiah. And that same gospel continues into the New Testament, although the sign of circumcision is replaced by the sign of baptism as the sign and seal of that covenant. And so we do baptize our children not because they are believers, but because we hope that in the fullness of time, the God of the covenant, their God, will call them to faith. And they will respond to that effectual call by putting their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:22:30]And what a blessing it is this morning to baptize young Carter.

[00:22:36]Now, I have a number of questions for you and then one for the congregation.

[00:22:41]And if you would answer these questions in the affirmative, I do that would be wonderful. Do you renew the vows which you made when you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior and entered into the full communion of First Presbyterian Church?

[00:22:59]Do you do you acknowledge that your child is a sinner in need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit? Do you do you claim God's promises on their behalf? And do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation as you do for your own? Do you?

[00:23:19]>> Yes, we do.

[00:23:21]>> And do you now covenant and promise in humble reliance on the grace of God to bring up your son to love God and to serve him to the end that he may come to commit his life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Do you? Amen. Could I ask the members of the congregation please to stand?

[00:23:46]Do you the members of First Presbyterian Church undertake with these parents the covenant responsibility for the Christian nurture of this child? Do you?

[00:23:55]I do. Amen. Thank you. Please take your seats.

[00:24:02]Let me pray.

[00:24:05]Our Father in heaven, we bless you for this sign and seal of the covenant of grace. It's a sign to all who see it and a sign to all who receive it. And it is sealed to our hearts as a true sign of the gospel when you seal us with the Holy Spirit when we believe in Jesus Christ. And we pray, oh Lord, for young Carter this morning, O Lord, and for his sister, that you will surround them with your mercy, with your favor like a shield. You'll be a son to them and a shield to protect them. You'll give them grace and glory and withhold no good thing from them as they grow up. And so we ask you, oh God, do not withhold faith from them or repentance, but grant them these gifts of heaven early in life that they might come to put their trust in Christ as Lord and Savior. And that the fullness of this sign now applied would be felt in their hearts as they're born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. that this sign so richly symbolizes. And we offer these prayers, oh Lord, in Jesus name.

[00:25:22]Amen.

[00:25:26]>> Thank you. What is your son's given name?

[00:25:30]>> Carter Lee Jones, child of the covenant. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Lord bless you >> and keep you. The Lord cause his face to shine upon you all your days. May you delight yourself in the Lord and may he grant you the desires of your heart. May you hear his spirit's voice say to you, "Come ye children. Listen to me and I will teach you the way of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life and loved length of days that he may see life?

[00:26:13]Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.

[00:26:20]May the ears of the Lord be open to all of your prayers. And may his eyes number your wanderings and may he keep all of your tears in his bottle. And may he cause his goodness and mercy to follow you all of the days of your life until you dwell in the house of the Lord forever through Christ Jesus.

[00:26:40]Amen. and amen. What a blessing. I'm privileged to welcome Carter into our membership this morning and to baptize him. You may take your seats and we will sing the baptismal hymn now to the praise of God. Thank you to And my love and mercy share Sing we pray to the end right.

[00:27:49]Amen.

[00:27:55]And amen.

[00:27:57]Well, let's draw near to the Lord of the Covenant, the judge of all the earth, as we confess our sins this morning, using the words of the corporate confession of prayer in our bulletin on page four.

[00:28:10]Please pray with me.

[00:28:14]Oh holy father, from first to last, salvation is by free grace. We cannot merit mercy by our works. We cannot demerit mercy by our sins. And yet from deep within our proud souls, a strange resistance rises against this gospel. We find ourselves wanting another gospel, which is no gospel at all. one that bids us bring something, do something, earn something, anything in which we might boast. What can we say? Father, sin doth make Pharisees of us all. Forgive our pride, stubborn, self-righteous hearts.

[00:28:59]Give us what we do not deserve. Give us what Jesus deserved on our behalf. teach us to boast only in him, in Jesus the sinner's friend, who loved us and gave himself for our poor sake. In his name we pray. Amen. And amen.

[00:29:20]And our assurance of pardon this morning comes from Titus chapter 3 and Paul has just unpacked to the cretins our unconverted state. We're foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures. We spend our life in malice and envy. We're hateful and we hate one another. And that was the way we were.

[00:29:43]And then Paul comes with one of the blessed butts of the gospel. But when the kindness of God, our savior, and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us.

[00:29:55]Not on the basis of deeds that we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and by renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our savior, so that being justified by his grace, we would be made hes according to the hope of eternal life. At every point this these verses remind us that salvation is God's work, not ours. We're not saved on the basis of our works.

[00:30:34]Even when he says justified, he doesn't say justified by faith as he says elsewhere. He says justified by his grace. It's God's mercy first to last is the great stress of this text. He saved us. We did not save ourselves. which is a wonderful encouragement this morning because there's nothing you can do Christian to mess up your salvation. You can mess up your life and get you know you can get in all kinds of trouble but you cannot lose what God has done for you and what God has done to you and what God has done in you. The work of salvation is God's alone. And Christ has saved you. Not because of anything done by you, not because of anything done in you, but because of what he has done for you. It's outside of yourself. Your righteousness is in heaven. And you've been justified not on the basis of anything in your life, not even on the basis of your faith. You are justified only and always on the basis of Christ's righteousness for you. And that's a righteousness in heaven that you can't get your grubby hands on to mess it up. It's a wonderful thing and be com comforted. And if you are not yet a believer in this place, you came in here this morning under the condemnation and death sentence of heaven. But you don't need to leave that way. You can go out forgiven. You can go out justified. You can go out cleansed of all of your guilt and all of your shame. You can go out free, not just from the guilt of sin, but the power of sin. Look to Jesus Christ. Listen to him and trust him. And he will do for you what his name promises. He will save his people from their sins. Amen. And amen.

[00:32:43]Let's draw near to God together, shall we? And pray.

[00:32:52]Oh Lord, our God and our father, you look down from heaven. You see all of the sons of men. From your dwelling place, you look out on all the inhabitants of the world. You fashioned the hearts of us all. You understand all of our works.

[00:33:14]And we are sons of men and daughters of men today because not only because we had fathers, but because we had mothers.

[00:33:25]And we bless you, oh God, that in your sovereign mercy, we each had a mother, we were conceived in her womb, a warm and welcoming and safe place, where you formed our inward substance, where you knit us together wonderfully and fearfully.

[00:33:48]Where your eyes saw us and treasured us and cherished us. And you formed our minds and our bodies and our hearts there.

[00:33:57]And in the fullness of time, we came forth, oh Lord, into a harsh and cruel world where we would shed many a tear.

[00:34:05]And yet as babies, oh Lord, we had this instinct that if we cried out in pain or hunger, there was someone waiting with the name Mother who would not be indifferent to our cry and to our pain and would come to our aid. And we thank you, Father, for our mothers.

[00:34:28]We thank you for their love for us, their patience toward us. Oh God, we tried them and tested them in many ways and often behaved in ways that were horribly disrespectful and ungrateful.

[00:34:42]And yet, oh Lord, they bore with us.

[00:34:45]They served us. They prepared breakfast for for us in the morning or packed lunch for school, oh Lord, and made dinner in the evening. They carried us to piano practice and soccer practice and softball practice and all other kinds of games, oh Lord. They drove us around, never asked for thanks, and yet they were always there in the background, loving us, worrying over us, praying for us.

[00:35:12]There's many a man, many a woman here saved today through a mother's prayers.

[00:35:18]And we thank you, oh Lord, for them.

[00:35:22]Even now, oh Lord, we know that mothers continue to worry for their children.

[00:35:28]Never a day goes by without concern in their hearts wondering how they're doing, where they are, what they're facing, what problems they're facing, what burdens they're carrying, and they're concerned and they pray. And for some of the mothers of this congregation, oh Lord, they've seen children forsake the faith and leave the church and it's a deep, deep wound in their hearts. Remind these dear ladies today, whatever be the case in the lives of their children, that the hound of heaven has legs that are long and swift and he can restore the backslider. He can bring the prodigal home. And we pray, oh Lord, you would hear the prayers of the mothers here and answer them that it would be well with their children that you would supply every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power that rises from mother's hearts today in this sanctuary.

[00:36:24]We know Lord there are many ladies in this church who are not yet mothers.

[00:36:28]They're not yet married or maybe they're married and their womb has been closed by your hand up to this point.

[00:36:36]We pray, Father, that you would look down in mercy. You're the giver of every good and perfect gift. Won't you give these dear girls a husband to marry and a child to hold? You're the God of all the barren heroins of the Bible. From Sarah all the way down to Mary, the most barren womb of all, the womb of a virgin. And yet, oh Lord, from each of them you brought life. and from Mary you brought the one who is the way and the truth and the life and we bless you for this.

[00:37:10]We pray father you would comfort them as they wait for you to fulfill your good purpose in their lives. We thank you also as George reminded us of the spiritual mothers in this congregation.

[00:37:22]These ladies who pour into the lives of other young children in Sunday school and uh young ladies as they grow to adulthood. Oh Lord, discipling them. And we pray you'll bless their efforts too.

[00:37:36]That they will see when they get to heaven. They had many, many children on earth who look to them as the eyes of a child to the heart of a mother. And we pray that you'd bless their efforts also. And we offer these prayers today in Jesus name. Amen.

[00:38:03]Let's continue our worship singing to God's praise. Hymn number 528, which you'll find in page seven of your bulletin. My faith looks up to thee.

[00:38:37]to thee thy savior divine thou hear me our pray Take all my tilt away.

[00:39:01]Oh, let me from this day be holy.

[00:39:13]May thy restraint to my fing for me.

[00:39:35]Oh may my love to thee.

[00:39:42]Oh warm and changeless of living our tread and me spread.

[00:40:05]Be thou my God.

[00:40:11]In darkness turn to day.

[00:40:17]Why sorrow tears away?

[00:40:25]Let me stray from the life. As a dream when death savior in love here and distrust removed all sior our soul.

[00:41:25]Now let us bring to the Lord his tithes and our offerings.

[00:41:53]My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.

[00:42:04]I cannot trust the sweetest rain but holy lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

[00:42:27]All other ground is sinking sand.

[00:42:44]When darkness fails his lovely face, I rest on his arch changing grace.

[00:42:56]In every high and stormy gy anchor hold within the Christ the rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

[00:43:19]All other ground is sinking sand.

[00:43:35]When he shall come from their sound, oh may I then in him be found in his rightousness alone.

[00:43:53]the flesh to stand before the throne.

[00:44:01]On Christ the song rock I stand.

[00:44:08]All other ground is sinking sand.

[00:44:16]All the ground is sinking.

[00:44:22]Set the cross.

[00:44:27]The rock I stand.

[00:44:41]Praise God.

[00:44:58]Praise him all.

[00:45:03]Praise him.

[00:45:09]Praise God, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[00:45:24]Our God and ever blessed Father in heaven, you speak and it is done. You who command and it holds fast. We pray, oh Lord, that you would draw near and speak to all of our hearts today. Show us, oh Lord, aresh, how deeply indebted we are to you for our salvation, not just at the beginning, but every step along the way to life's end and beyond into eternity.

[00:45:59]We pray you'll grant your servant utterance to make these things clear, simple, and profound.

[00:46:07]That they might sink into the heart of those who know you and those who know you not. and that you would use this sermon to bring life where there's only spiritual death and light where there's only spiritual darkness and liberty where there's only the bondage of a will held fast in sin and Satan's thr Lord that your people will wonder at the glories of a salvation that belongs to God from beginning to end in Jesus name.

[00:46:41]Amen.

[00:46:47]Well, let's turn in our Bibles, please, to Paul's letter to the Ephesians, the Christians in Ephesus. And we'll pick up again in chapter 2. We're going to read from verse 1 to verse 10. Though our sermon this morning will be from verse 8 to 10, those famous words that many of you have memorized.

[00:47:09]This is the word of God. Please take heed how you hear. And again, I'm reading from the New American Standard Version. And I'm going to try and make sure those words, if possible, will fit somewhere in the bulletin that you can read them because they're very similar to the ESV, but there's a few differences, and I think it'll help you if you could have that text before you for the sermon. This is God's word.

[00:47:32]And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

[00:47:49]Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wroth even as the rest.

[00:48:03]But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you've been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So Paul there's been outlining uh the glories of a salvation that from beginning to end is God's work. We were dead. He made us alive.

[00:48:45]Which begs the question, well, how did that kind of all pan out?

[00:48:51]Um, is it really all of God's grace?

[00:48:53]What about our activity? What about our faith? What about our um repentance and so forth and our good works? Where do they fit in? If it's all God's work, how does our work connect there? And Paul is answering that here in verse eight or explaining that. For by grace you've been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

[00:49:17]It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

[00:49:27]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Amen. The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of God endures forever. Well, every Christian is a spiritual golfer.

[00:49:50]We carry in our back pocket our spiritual scorecard and we mark every hole how we did. We mark down how diligent are we in our Bible reading, in our prayer. How earnest are we in our faith? How thorough are we in our repentance?

[00:50:12]How are we doing with our besetting sins? Those sins that trip us up and offend our conscience. Are we doing better this week than last week? How are we doing in our church life? Are we serving at church? How are we serving at church? Where are we serving at church?

[00:50:28]How much of ourselves are we giving to the church in term of our time and our talents and our treasure? How are we doing in the fruit of the Holy Spirit?

[00:50:38]Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and so forth. How are we doing in that list? They should all be present in our hearts, but where are they more present in some places than in others? How are we doing? And in a thousand other ways, we mark our spiritual scorecard.

[00:50:58]And sometimes Christians can be interesting in the way they put score on the card. I knew one Christian from another city in America who admitted one day with some shame that he and his wife gambled a lot.

[00:51:14]But then he said, "But I tithe all my winnings."

[00:51:20]And evidently he thought that was a green tick on the storecard, a spiritual birdie as it were.

[00:51:32]And of course, some of this is healthy.

[00:51:34]The psalmist in Psalm 139 says, "Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there'd be any grievous way in me." Self-examination is good. Paul bids the Corinthians, of course, to examine yourself to see whether or not you're in the faith. The self-examined heart is a faithful heart, a biblical heart, something we must do.

[00:52:00]The problem starts, of course, when we look at the scorecard and quietly conclude that the score is ours. We made those shots. We scored those birdies.

[00:52:13]And to some extent we are proud of ourselves when we do.

[00:52:19]We achieve these things by the dent and diligence of our own hearts. And worse than that even we can tend to get into the habit of thinking that God is somehow more pleased with us when we score a birdie than he is when we have a spiritual boogie as it were. And that his favor, his love rises and falls with our good days and our not so good days.

[00:52:44]And that's a problem. And in these verses, these famous verses that many of you have memorized, Paul is obliterating that logic.

[00:52:53]He's reminding us at every step of our Christian life from its beginning all the way through its growth until its very end that salvation is the work of God.

[00:53:06]Paul is asking, he's saying to you, do you really believe that there's anything in your life, anything at all that began with you as something you did independently of God? You made a decision.

[00:53:19]One of our dear members asked me after the first service, can we still sing I have decided to follow Jesus? He said, you can sing that because you did decide to follow Jesus and you're you're encouraging yourself to maintain that decision, right?

[00:53:32]But where did that decision come from?

[00:53:34]Paul's going to tell you.

[00:53:37]And the good works we practice, we must practice in our lives, where do they begin? Do they begin in our own heads?

[00:53:43]No. Paul says they have a much more heavenly origin than most Christians would dare to acknowledge or imagine and often forget. Let's look at these this text. There's only two points this morning because there only really are two main points I think in the text.

[00:53:58]Let's consider first of all the beginning of your Christian life. Let's go back to ground zero. The moment you put your trust in Jesus and were saved.

[00:54:06]And Paul here is walking us through that very moment. Why did you do that? How did you do that? Well, Paul says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith." Notice the tense of that verb.

[00:54:22]You have been saved. It's a perfect passive verb, which means a completed event.

[00:54:30]in the past that has present fruit.

[00:54:34]Those of you who are mothers, you have been mothers for as long as your children were in your womb.

[00:54:44]It was a completed event. You were a mother. The moment you conceived a child, even if that child never came forth to full life in this world, you were a mother to that child. And you'll always be a mother to that child. It's a completed event that has ongoing consequences in life.

[00:55:02]Perfect passive verb.

[00:55:06]It's done in the past and has ongoing effects today.

[00:55:11]And Paul says you have been saved. He doesn't say you might be saved if you do something or if you keep on doing something. He doesn't say you could be saved if you do something or keep on doing something. He doesn't say you would be saved if you kept on doing something. He says, "You have been saved." Let the let the security of that word sink into your soul this morning, Christian. You're as safe now as the saints in heaven. Not as happy, but not more secure. The himmwriter says, the glorified saints up in heaven. Now, why were you saved?

[00:55:48]And Paul says two things. First of all, you were saved because of the gift of God's grace. For by grace you have been saved.

[00:56:00]And you remember Paul is God. Paul's word grace means God's love for the helldeserving. Not just the undeserving, not just those who deserve nothing from God, but those who actually deserve his condemnation, his fury, his wroth. And instead of giving them what they deserve, God gives them grace. He loves them despite what they deserve.

[00:56:25]And grace is something that is not merited by a human being.

[00:56:30]It's demmerited but given anyway.

[00:56:33]For by grace you have been saved.

[00:56:38]Never forget that. How could it be anything else? How did salvation find you? In what state did the gospel find you? You were dead in the water, dead in your trespasses, dead in your sins, helpless, hopeless, lifeless. You were dead. And God made you alive, Christian.

[00:57:02]A spiritual act of resurrection in your soul.

[00:57:09]He loves you.

[00:57:11]He loved you when you were dead. He gave grace to you when you were dead. away with this thought that God loves you more on your good days than he does on your bad days. Yes, we can grieve God's spirit and quench him in our lives by sin. But God's love, God's favor has been purchased for you by the love and obedience of Christ. And your standing before God never rises, never falls.

[00:57:40]It's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

[00:57:49]But you say to me, "But hold on, I did believe, didn't I? I mean, there was a time when I believed.

[00:57:55]I heard the gospel preached. I read the Bible and it moved me. I had this tract given to me at a at a in the market in in in down the farmers market and I read it and it brought me to salvation. My parents shared the gospel with me. My friends at school shared the gospel with me. And there was a moment when I believed and I remember making the decision. I'm going to believe in Jesus.

[00:58:17]I responded and I remember doing so.

[00:58:21]Where did that faith come from? Paul this he tells you for by grace you have been saved through faith and that and there's a debate in the scholarship does that go back and include through faith by itself or does it also include the grace and it's probably both but it includes faith for by grace you have been saved through faith and that whole thing the grace you received and the faith you expressed was not of yourselves. It didn't come from you. It didn't originate from you better. It is the gift of God.

[00:59:02]That's what Paul says in Philippians 1:29. You remember he says, "For it has been granted to you, granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer."

[00:59:16]Paul says it's been granted these two gifts. one to believe in Christ and one to suffer for Christ and to imitate his sufferings in this world. And both are gifts from God. The faith that trust Christ and the pain that suffers along with Christ in this world that rejects you as it rejected him. And both of them are a gift from heaven. It was granted to you to believe not of yourselves.

[00:59:44]It is the gift of God.

[00:59:50]When Lazarus left the tomb, did he decide to leave the tomb? He did. He woke up and thought, "Oh, it's dark in here and cold, and these white robes are pretty tight.

[01:00:02]I'm going to get up and leave, but the stone's there." Then someone moved the stone, he walked out, and there's Jesus.

[01:00:08]He did decide to leave the tomb, but he would never have decided or been able to decide had not the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to him and said, "Lazarus, I say to you, arise."

[01:00:25]It's just like that in your salvation.

[01:00:32]And Paul doubled doubles down in that logic in verse nine.

[01:00:37]Not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. If you did anything, if you did anything that in any way contributed to your salvation or sparked it off, you could boast in that.

[01:00:55]And there are many Christians in America, actually I would almost go to far as far as saying most Christians in America think that you sparked off salvation by your faith.

[01:01:09]They're wrong, of course, but that's what they believe.

[01:01:12]They believe that God will not violate the human will. He's left the human will, free to decide to believe in Jesus or not believe in Jesus. And they believe that Christ died for every human being without distinction. So Christ has done all that he can.

[01:01:30]He's died. He's he's made a sacrifice for sins. And it's now up to you. You must decide to believe. And if you do, you go to heaven. And if you don't, you go to hell. And that's the only difference between those going to heaven and those going to hell, they say, is that some choose to believe and some choose not to believe. And there you have it.

[01:01:51]Do you realize that that is true?

[01:01:56]Faith is in some sense a work. It's a contribution.

[01:02:02]You and your friend go and hear the gospel being preached and you respond and you believe he doesn't. On the day of judgment, you can look at your friend say, "You heard the same gospel I heard.

[01:02:10]I chose to believe. You chose not to believe." And that's the difference. And you you fulfilled the condition in that scheme. You believed, you chose, you followed Jesus. And therefore, do you see that's a work? It's the smallest possible work you could do, but it's still a work. It's a condition that you fulfill to bring salvation that God wants to give you and you do it. And therefore, there's room in that scheme for just a little bit of boasting because you saved yourself by your faith.

[01:02:43]Christ died to offer you salvation, but it was your faith that saved you.

[01:02:49]And that is not what Paul says in this verse.

[01:02:52]The reason if you believed you believe was because God gave the gift to you and did not give it to his friend. Christ did not die for all men without distinction. He laid down his life for the church. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

[01:03:12]The whole logic of that would be obliterated in terrible ways if Christ loved the whole world as his church.

[01:03:19]No, Christ loved his church and he gave himself up for her. And he gave himself up not to make the offer of salvation possible.

[01:03:32]He died to make your salvation unstoppable.

[01:03:37]He saved you. The God we worship isn't held in the thr of the human will. God doesn't get down on his knees when the gospel is preached and waits to see what the almighty human will will do.

[01:03:54]The almighty human will will choose to believe in Jesus. That's not the God we worship. His people will be willing in the day of his power. He holds the heart of the king in his hand and turns it whatever way he will like a water course.

[01:04:14]When you come to the gospel, Paul says, "You are dead." And God says, "Let there be life." And you are darkness. And God says, "Let there be light."

[01:04:26]And there's only opposition, a refusal to believe. And God says, "My people will be willing in the day of my power." And God turns it. the human will.

[01:04:42]Just like the man with the withered arm, all we know is he couldn't stretch out his arm.

[01:04:49]And Jesus came and said to him, the most ridiculous thing in all the world, stretch out your arm. And the man did what he could not do because there was power in the voice of Jesus. And so whenever I say to you, come to me in the name of Jesus, it's not just me speaking.

[01:05:08]You might be here this morning dead in your sins. And the Lord Jesus Christ is here. And he's saying, "Come to me." And there's power in his word to take you from spiritual death to spiritual life, from darkness to light, from bondage to liberty. Almighty power, not as a result of works, so that no one can boast. That'll be the thing in heaven. He gave me faith when I disbelieved him. He gave me love when I hated him. He gave me the will to do to come to believe when I resisted him. Why would he do that to me? His mercy. Oh, his mercy of the great God and father of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel that Paul preaches, not as a result of works.

[01:06:07]so that no one may boast.

[01:06:12]But then Paul goes on, let's consider, he says, not just the beginning of your Christian life. Let's consider the growth of your Christian life. How does that work?

[01:06:21]Where do your good works come from? Like repentance. You lay aside sin and you follow Jesus.

[01:06:29]like mortification as Paul speaks about putting sin to death. You put off the old man who's being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit.

[01:06:38]Where does that come from?

[01:06:41]You put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh, put to death the deeds of the body. Where does that come from? Or being renewed in the spirit of our minds as as we learn to think a way of never thought before. Do not let the world squeeze you into its mold. Romans 12. but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Where did that come from? Or sanctification proper. As we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, you put on the new man, the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness, which comes from the truth.

[01:07:17]Literally, Paul says, where does that come from?

[01:07:21]Or the good works that we do in life.

[01:07:23]Paul says earlier in Titus 3, remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable and gentle, showing every consideration for all men. Where does that come from? These good works of the Christian life, a a tender heart, a posture of of kindness to those who hate you, even in the world.

[01:07:52]or persevering there into the end. He that endures to the end, Christ will be saved. Where did these good works come from?

[01:07:59]Well, Paul tells you, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we should walk in them."

[01:08:15]were his workmanship.

[01:08:22]It's a word that is describes the original creation of God back in Genesis, his workmanship.

[01:08:30]And creation cannot boast in its majesty, its intricacy, its glory.

[01:08:40]The sea cannot boast in its waves that lap up in such a relaxing time at the beach in the summer or that crash on the waves and on the shores with power.

[01:08:52]The wind cannot boast in its ability to give you a soothing breath of fresh air on a hot day or its power to make the mighty oak bend and fall in a storm. The stars cannot boast in their ability to sparkle the night sky with brilliance and beauty.

[01:09:17]They do that. But they do that because they are his workmanship.

[01:09:22]And Jesus says, "You are his workmanship."

[01:09:27]He made you what you are. We're different. Different personalities, different temperaments, different gifts, different abilities.

[01:09:37]different opportunities to put those gifts to practice. Some of us are further down the Christian life than others and some of us are further behind others. But we are that way, Paul says, because we are his workmanship.

[01:09:50]And we cannot boast in who we are or how we have grown or what we have done because we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. That's the sphere of the new creation.

[01:10:06]This creation down here, the physical world happened in the space-time continuum of history in the universe. It all happened in that sphere. God created in this sphere after making this sphere.

[01:10:20]And God recreates the Christian soul in Christ Jesus. It begins with him. that comes through him and ends in him. From him, through him, and to him are all the recreative works and power of God through the gospel. It's in Christ Jesus. It's not found outside of him, only in him.

[01:10:48]We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

[01:10:57]Now these are good works we must do. We do them. And just like faith, you remember doing the good works. When you help that person in need, someone came to the doctor's office and you realized they didn't have the capacity to pay the bill and you went to the we girl behind the desk and said, "Lay that at my account. Let them go."

[01:11:20]And you did that.

[01:11:22]Was a good work.

[01:11:24]Please, heavenly father. Uh, but where did it come from?

[01:11:31]We we were saved for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And this series of I've preached Ephesians many times, at least two or three times I've gone through it in the past. This time though, God has shown me things in almost every sermon I've never seen before with the same clarity or felt before with the same warmth. And this is one of these examples. I read this and it just blew my mind. What an example. You go into Monday morning and you think, "Oh, it's Monday morning. Monday and Monday morning, a maelstrom of Monday morning chaos. The children getting to school.

[01:12:06]Oh, it's awful." And you can go into life that way. No, you should go into Monday morning thinking, "This is the day the Lord has made and he has made good works for me to find in this day.

[01:12:18]Good works for me to do in this day. the father's hidden them like Easter Sunday with Easter eggs, little Easter eggs, you know, and you fill them with candy.

[01:12:29]And you hide them in the garden and the children go out confident that daddy is hidden Easter eggs in the garden that he means them to find behind the rose bush, under the tree, under the bucket. And they look with great passion and fun because they know there are eggs and they're they know they're there to be found. And Christians, that's the way we should live life every single day. Oh, what good works has God gi given hidden out in my life for me to find and for me to do for his glory this day? It's a wonderful way to think about it. We were away at Ben's graduation this weekend.

[01:13:08]We're staying in one of the Hilton hotels in Raleigh and it was fine.

[01:13:11]lovely hotel and we were down in breakfast and if you know me I'm not very communicative of breakfast and eat coffee and some food and you're lucky to get a grunt out of me in the morning but I'm sitting there eating my they were real eggs which is a rare thing in a hotel not the powdered kind they were real eggs and a couple of I think I think uh chicken sausages but I was eating them and drinking my coffee and I looked up and on the wall there was this painting and it was weird it had it was like this Victorian gentleman in a black suit with a wing collar and a black tie and a bowler hat and he looked kind of austere and his arms were crossed like this and behind him the background was really psychedelic.

[01:13:55]It was like these unnatural green foliage and flowers that were so real.

[01:14:03]And suddenly a thought came to me, which is rare at 7:30 in a Saturday morning, but a thought came to me. I said, "Children, what's the world view of that that poster?" And they all looked at looked at it and thought, and we had a conversation about it.

[01:14:17]It's saying that the the the past is bad. The whole background makes this man look austere and unwelcoming and unkind and closed.

[01:14:29]And there's a worldview there to consider in our in our day and age. It's supposed to be trendy art on the wall, but the painter had a worldview when he painted it. And we had a conversation.

[01:14:38]They probably want to eat their cornflakes, but we had a good conversation. And why did I do that?

[01:14:41]Well, because God ordained that I would sit there and have enough sense to look up and see the painting and go, "Oh, interesting." And have that thought. And we had a conversation with the children around breakfast table about God and his word. And just like that, God has created opportunity through this day and tomorrow and every day of your life for good works.

[01:15:01]the kind word of one of your children at bedtime. You're tired. You want to go downstairs and watch a show with your wife, but your your child wants you to snuggle with them and you get into bed and you spend five minutes extra just snuggling and talking to them and praying with them. It's a good work.

[01:15:16]Or you text a friend you haven't seen for years, tell them you're praying for him or her.

[01:15:24]Or you walk into church Sunday morning and there's a visitor looking a bit a bit lost with their family. Where do they go when you're late too? You don't want to walk into the door late in the middle of service, but you see them and you go, "Hold on a second. They look lost. I'll help them." And you go across and you say to them, "Is everything okay? Do you know where you're going?

[01:15:39]Can I help you get where you want to go?" And they say, "Yeah, we're looking for the family life center. How do we get there?" "Oh, I'll show you." And you take them. It's a small thing, but it's a good work your father has hidden for you.

[01:15:51]You go to a restaurant at lunch and the world treats the servers like the help, right? You don't actually acknowledge them. I was watching an old show from the era of Downtown Abbey.

[01:16:04]Um it was a detective show about the mur murder. It's it's very good so far. But in the in the first episode there's the old grandmother very posh in the country house and she's lamenting that people are thanking the servants. She goes, "Thank the servants? Where would that ever end?" She said Hoover apparently used to hate seeing servants um in the White House. So they'd ring a bell and all the servants would hide in cupboards when he would walk by. He didn't want to see them, right? They're there, but I don't want to see them and I definitely don't want to talk to them. Right? And so people have that attitude towards the servers in restaurants. You ignore them. Never say thank you. Never ask them, "How you doing? Having a good day?"

[01:16:49]But you're different than that because you're a Christian. They're made in the image of God. You see them and you speak a kind word to them. They look troubled.

[01:16:55]You say, "You having a hard hard day.

[01:16:56]Maybe they'll open up to you. You can talk to them and chat to them because they're human beings made in God's image and you love them, right?" And those just little things like that. And God goes, "He's found another one. Another good work I set before him. He's found it. She's found it."

[01:17:11]Maybe you help your neighbor or you show you you you share Christ with somebody you meet.

[01:17:20]heard Fandy Wilson, a new mentor of mine and a dear senior pastor, used to be in the PCA before he retired and he's a good man. He spoke at lampstand. He said one of his favorite ways of sharing Christ is asking someone, let me ask you, are you a follower of Jesus? Which is a great question, right? Because it it gets you so much further than many other questions. Are you a follower of Jesus?

[01:17:45]And God's going, "He's found another Easter egg."

[01:17:49]Or maybe, "Where could you serve a church?" First prayer. So many places you could serve. Give your talents and your time here.

[01:17:57]But you look with all of the courage and passion of a child who knows his father is hidden. Easter eggs full of candy everywhere for you to find. that you would find them and you would enjoy opening them and using them for his glory.

[01:18:16]And so do you see at every step of the Christian life from the beginning all the way through its growth to its very end, we have no room for boasting. We have only room for resting and wonderment that such a God would give us such a salvation. That is his work ever before it's ours. And even when we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we do so conscious that we're only working out because our father is working in us to will and to do for his good pleasure and all for his glory.

[01:18:54]And that's your lot in life and you're going to heaven. It's amazing.

[01:18:59]Let's pray together.

[01:19:02]Father in heaven, we thank you Lord for these dear believers here at First Presbyterian Church. Help us to see the wonderment of salvation and to work not from insecurity trying to be secure but to work in the security that you're our father. You have saved us through Christ by grace through faith but even that was given and four good works that you prepared beforehand that we should walk in them and give us that hunger of a young child looking for Easter candy in the garden as we live our lives. And if there are any here, oh Lord, who have never experienced the saving power of Jesus, let them come to Christ this day and be saved. Not because they decide to believe, but because you stoop down. Oh father and you give them the gift of faith to trust their creator in Jesus. If we can't trust you, oh God, who can we trust in life? In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

[01:20:06]Well, let us conclude our service of worship this morning singing to God's praise.

[01:20:12]Our final hymn, Amazing Grace. We'll sing the first four verses and then the last two for our extra sweet the sound like I was lost.

[01:20:57]But now I found I see that my heart to Praise his preious and graious.

[01:21:49]and snares.

[01:21:51]I am already his gra and will lead me home.

[01:22:17]The Lord has promised good to me.

[01:22:27]My will my shield and shall be as long as you.

[01:22:54]And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be your portion now and forever until the day breaks and the shadows flee. Amen.

[01:23:22]In this flesh and shall I shall joy and peace.

[01:23:53]When we I shine the sun.

[01:25:37]You're happy.

[01:25:46]Thank you.

[01:25:57]Happy birthday.

[01:26:22]Happy Hallelujah.

[01:26:42]Hallelujah.

[01:27:09]Do you want to know?

[01:27:23]the church.

[01:27:38]Amen.

[01:28:11]I understand.