God’s Got Something For You To Do
By Pastor Matt Black
05
November 2006
Lord's Day morning
Ephesians 2:10
Open your Bibles to Ephesians 2, and let’s read verses 1-10. The title of this morning’s message is “God’s God Something for You to Do”.
[Read Ephesians 2:1-10].
Main Text: Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Prayer: Almighty Heavenly Father, You who has done all, You who has created anew within us a new creation—if any man be in Christ he is a new creature! O God we are created in Christ Jesus, in Your Beloved Son, to do something. As Jesus came to do the Father’s will, Father, we are here to do Your will. O God, I pray that you would convict lazy Christians of their laziness. I pray that you would convict each one of us of slothfulness; convict each one of us of misplaced priorities. O Lord, convict every one of us, for your glory and our good, of misplaced time and misplaced values. God, convict us and energize us. Put within us the burning desire to do Your will and Your work in every little tiny way, seen and unseen, that our lives might changed, that our families might be changed, that our church might be changed, that our neighborhoods might be changed, that our community and our nation and our world might be changed. We ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Outline: This morning’s outline is very simple:
Introduction: Let’s begin by taking a journey back in time to April 1, 2003. On that day, a joint assault unit of Navy Seals, Delta Force, Army Rangers, and Air Force Paratroopers staged a recovery effort at a hospital in Nasiriya, Iraq. They had a job to do. They’re route was meticulously planned ahead of time. Every second counted. Every soldier followed their orders. As you already know, American soldier Jessica Lynch was rescued that day. She was rescued because our troops had a job to do, and they did it. If someone had not followed their orders, the plan would have been compromised. They had to work as one unit, as one body, with one mind, and they had to execute the plan that had been laid out before them. They had intelligence people going into the place where Jessica Lynch was, going into each room, and scoping out the whole make-up of the hospital and the surrounding area. They sought out information on who was there and who was in charge. The soldiers didn’t have to create the plan, they simply had to obey orders.
That’s kind of the position we are in as Christians. God has mapped out our life. He’s even mapped out the “good works”—His work that we are to do. You don’t have to be creative about all the things that are supposed to happen in your life, in fact it is impossible for you to even begin to try. You see, you didn’t choose your abilities and your weaknesses. You didn’t choose your family. You may have thought you chose the college you attended or the occupation that you’re involved in, but God put it in your heart! You didn’t choose your children (and you probably remind them of that often!). God planned everything. God planned the moment that He saved you. Aren’t you glad that God saved you?
The reason why God did not take you to heaven the moment after you were saved was because there was something He wanted you to do. The only reason you’re still here is because there is something He wants you to do. God redeemed you because He has the intent to use you for His purposes, and to further His agenda.
Let me take you to another soldier. Kyle Snyder of the 94th Engineer Battalion fled the country after being given orders that he would be deployed to Iraq.[1] He’s been out of the country since April 2005. When a soldier leaves his unit do you know that is called? That’s called AWOL. It means Absent WithOut Leave or absent without permission. If you claim to be saved this morning, God’s got a job for you to do. I want to ask you, are you AWOL from that job? Are you on leave, absent without permission? God saved you, and He’s going to work in you. If there’s not fruit in your life you should examine if you truly are in the Lord’s army. When a soldier refuses to fight, he shows that he’s not truly a soldier of the United States of America. He’s given a dishonorable discharge. He’s not allowed to receive any of the benefits of being a soldier, because he’s not a soldier, he’s a traitor. And there are those who put on the Name of Christ and wear the uniform of His army. They wear the Name and wave the banner of Jesus Christ under false pretense, and all they are is wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. This morning if you are not on fire for the Lord, if you’re not serving God in every capacity that is available to you something is wrong. I’m not saying you have to be perfect or that you have to arrive at sinless perfection, but if there is not a heart beat within you for God’s will, you should examine yourself to see whether you be in the faith. God’s children love Him and they love doing the Father’s will.
This passage tells us that we were saved by grace—grace is God doing for you what you cannot do for yourself. You didn’t save yourself, and the good works that you do will not come from you, they will come from God. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. You don’t have to repay it; you cannot earn it; and you cannot make it without it. It’s what God does for you! The whole scene is set in verses 1-9 you could not help yourself. You were lifeless in the sins we were committing against God. Your trespasses have separated you from your God. You were alienated from God—we had put an impenatrable wall up as “enemies of God” and “sons of disobedience” and “vessels deserving destruction”. There’s no getting out of that prison. In Adam all die!
Illustration: Imagine three men wanted to swim from New York Harbor to the Iberian Peninsula in Spain. Some might swim farther than others, but all three would be dead because its too far. God is too high and too holy for us on our best days to be acceptable to Him. You cannot earn your salvation, but God will give it away to everyone who comes by faith. Our salvation is based on God’s grace.
So we are born dead in sins. But then something happened. We come to verse 4, and we read, “but God!” God can get you where you can’t get yourself! God will do for you that which is humanly impossible. But you see with God all things are possible. “By grace are ye saved”!
God when we were without hope and without life, raised us up higher than the heavens! You were loved by God, quickened by God, and if you’ve been saved, your spirit is right now at this very moment ascended to the heavenlies with Christ and the Father. You are seated—positioned there! While you are living on earth, you are seated in heaven. Your new reference point is Christ.
So while you are here in Chicago physically, you are actually in heaven. Even though your body is sitting next to someone here on earth, your spirit is in union with Jesus Christ in heaven, actually in union, right now, if you have followed Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. If He has saved you, then He will work through you, and that brings us to our first point.
I. The Potentate of service (ministry). As we say in Spanish, He is “El Jefe”. He is the five-star General. He is the One who is over all. He is the King of Kings. What does verse 10 say? We are whose workmanship? “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). Notice the wording. “we are HIS workmanship”. If God has saved you, He has a work for you to do in this church. You say, ‘Well I don’t need this church. I’m going to go to my house and serve Christ without the Body of Christ.’ Dear friend, Christ gave His life for the Church! He gave His life, not so that you could be a Lone Ranger Christian—that’s an oxymoron, it cannot exist. To be a Christian is to be a member of the Body of Christ, to be functioning. Imagine the parts of your body. Imagine your heart. Your heart says, ‘I’m the main thing! I only care about the heart.’ What will happen? If the heart doesn’t supply to the rest of the body, it will ultimately kill itself. Every part of the body is needed for proper functioning. No part can be separate. Understand that our God had a plan for every part. And our text says, “You are HIS workmanship…” That word workmanship means a work of art, a masterpiece. We get our word “poem” from it. God is not only working in your life individually, He’s working in and through you to others around you in this church, and you are coming together in one Body, as God’s masterpiece, “created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” So our focus is not on any individual part, but to God and God alone.
A. You must always have a God-centered view. “Seated in the heavenlies”… Your reference point is now heaven! Your loyalty is now to Christ! You are physically on earth, but you are actually in heaven, and that must be your reality. Before regeneration, the reference point is me, myself, and I—in other words, the flesh, the physical realm. Whatever pleases my passions and desires. But after you are saved, your reference point no longer is your five senses. Your reference point is the Spirit of God that pulses within you. You have one passion, one desire, one focus: Christ! You cannot live in both realms. You cannot serve two masters. If you are double minded it reveals that you are not at all serving God, but serving yourself, and serving God only when it pleases you. So you are not serving God, but making God serve you!
You must not have a divided loyalty. You are His workmanship. Who saved you? God did! You didn’t’ save yourself. Take your focus off yourself. Are you AWOL from the service that God has prepared for you, serving yourself instead of His purposes?
Get your eyes on the Potentate of our ministry, the One who is over all, the sovereign. Get your eyes on Him, the General, and follow His orders.
B. You see, we must never have a man-centered focus. Don’t be loyal to plans that focus on you or me. This is not about my plans or your plans. This is not about being a “Bob Jones” church or a “Purpose-filled Life” church. This church is not about any man. Can I tell you something? This is about Christ. I don’t want to be known for any label or any man. I want this church known for its faithfulness to line upon line, precept upon precept—the Bible! Spurgeon said if he were pricked he would bleed ‘bibline’—he would bleed the Bible. And that’s what I want for you and God wants for you. He wants you to be so saturated in the Word of God and in His truth that you bleed the Bible, that your life’s blood is to do the will of God—to read the Scriptures. You cannot have a man-centered view. This is not about politics! You know why I don’t fear when the phone rings, and why I sleep like a baby when I lay my head on my pillow at night? Do you know why I have total peace and contentment? Because I’m not trusting in man. We are trusting in the Word of God. We are trusting in Jesus Christ. And when you know at the bottom of your soul that you are doing God’s will, come what may, let people say what they will, it’s just a bump in the road! It’s nothing. Because my food is to do the will of the Father in heaven. I’m His work HIS workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto His good works. And He has prepared them for me.
1. What God-centered ministry means for me as a preacher. That means for me as a preacher, my loyalty is to the Word of God. I have been here about a year, and I am sure that I have probably managed to offend each of you at some point or another. My loyalties are with you only so far as you are obedient to this Book. I have a little saying near my desk which simply says: “Preach for God.” I don’t preach to tickle your ears. I don’t preach to give you ear candy. I don’t preach because I want to please you. If my loyalty resided in pleasing all of you, I would be a man pleaser. I am not here to please you. I am here to please God. I preach for god. Every word I speak, I want to please God. My loyalty and your loyalty is to God.
2. Application: We must never lift up a man over God! You know what I want? I want people to come into this church and say—those people preach the Word of God! They walk in the Spirit of God! They reflect the Son of God! And they live for the Glory of God! I know a whole lot of churches that lift up a man over God. If you lift up a man, remember, God will share His glory with no one, and that man will eventually come down. If you lift up a man, you have a man-centered, world loving church, and that church might have a lot of people in it, but it is not bearing eternal fruit. It means the church is filled not with converts of the Holy Spirit of God, but converts of some man. If a man saves you then a man has to keep you. If you are saved by God, then you are kept and guarded by God (Jude 25, “he that is able to keep [guard] you from falling…]
3. Illustration: You cannot serve in both the Marine Corps of the United States of America, and also be in the North Korean Army of Kim Jong Il. You cannot have a divided loyalty. In the last election, you did not vote for both President Bush and John Kerry. If you do that, your selection is invalidated. You cannot vote for both God and the devil. You cannot vote for both God and yourself. You must be on one side or the other. Joshua said, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” You must make that same decision. True service does not have a divided loyalty.
So that is our focus, and it is a single focus on our Potentate! So secondly, we see…
II. The Playing field of ministry. What is it that we are supposed to do? Where is our deployment? What’s the battle field look like? What’s the landscape, the geography, and topography look like? The Bible says that we are, “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works”. Good works take place in every venue of your life. The Bible says “Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Now we have to ask ourselves, what’s a good work?
A. A good work is begun by God. Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: God is the one who does the good work. He does it in you and through you for your good and for His glory.
B. There is a difference between good works and dead works. The scripture says in Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; This text seems to say that man can do righteousness, but this is from man’s perspective. No work of man is acceptable. Isaiah is clear about this. He tells us that there is no such thing as a lost man doing a good work. Isaiah 64:6, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…”
These are what Hebrews 6:1 calls “dead works”, and we are to repent of dead works. We are to repent of good things that don’t have the Spirit of God behind them.
Well, what’s the difference between a dead work and a good work? A dead work can be a good thing. Lost people can do seemingly good things. They can feed the poor. They can help the vulnerable. They can build infrastructure for destitute societies and bring running water to desolate villages. They can help an elderly lady across the street. These are good things. A good thing might make you a good citizen, but you cannot do a good work unless you are a vessel of the Holy Spirit of God.
Well, what’s a good work? Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. So what is a good work? A good work is anything that you do that brings glory to God. You don’t need the praise of men for it. You don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Do it in secret! Don’t look to be seen of men, because false humility is simply veiled pride, and God resists arrogance. He “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” That’s our playing field. You must do things that glorify God in every venue of life. You must do things that bring praise to the Potentate of our souls! You must bring glory to God in all things—from what you eat to what you wear, from the music that you choose, from the friends you hang out with, to the television programs that you watch, and the DVDs that you buy or rent, to every thought that passes through your mind, to every idle word that you say, to every place that your feet go, every thing must bring glory to God.
That’s our playing field. And then we look further at…
III. The Price of ministry. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works…” Your life in Christ is made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He paid for you!
You are “created” if you are a Christian. You did not make yourself. God made you anew. You are his new creation. Now let me ask you a question. Does God make anything that doesn’t work right—doesn’t function correctly? No! If you are saved, you will function for God. Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits.
Illustration: We went to Spain and we didn’t understand all the European brand names. We were looking through the aisles for a washer or dryer, and we said, “A Whirlpool—that is a good machine! That’s what we’re gonna get, we’re gonna get a Whirlpool.” Why did we want a Whirlpool? Because we knew that it would function correctly. Now when you are saved, God puts not only a new name on you, but we’ve learned in our study of Ephesians that God also puts a new nature in you. He puts a functioning capacity in you that wasn’t in you before. You’re “created in Christ Jesus unto good works”, and you are going to function, why? Because God paid a price for you.
Illustration: If you buy an appliance and it doesn’t work after you’ve already paid for it, you get a little irritated don’t you? They took your money, and you paid for the product, but the product was defective. Aren’t you glad for warranties? That allows us to take it back, and keep taking it back until they get it right. Why? Because you paid for it!
God paid a price for you, and He’s going to take you back, and He’s going to tighten that loose screw, and He’s going to take that hammer and put that part back in place in your life. And He’s going to work on you because He paid for you! He paid the blood of His dear Son for you! You were “created in Christ Jesus”. There was a price. And you will function. There is a ministry for you to do because Jesus Christ gave His blood for you, not so that you could sit in that pew and do nothing. Not so that you could sit there and become proud, puffed up with theological knowledge. He paid a price for you so that you would be the instrument of His will in this world. He paid a price for you so that you would change the world, transform this world through the grace of Jesus Christ.
You say, “O that sounds so exciting, I want to be a part of that!” Wait a minute. I haven’t told you everything. You see, I know what you are thinking. You’ve got all these ideas of what Spirit-filled ministry looks like. You’ve got all of these ideas of what God using you looks like. But let’s read that verse number 10. What does it say about good works? It says you’re “are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
And that brings us to our next point…
IV. Finally we come to The Place of ministry—You say, I want to be where God wants me to be. And you’ve got all of these ideas of what you think God wants you to do. Notice the subject, “You.” You cannot serve God on your terms. You cannot serve God with a bunch of man-made ideas. You cannot bring them to Him and say, this is what I want to do. That is not what works in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard. It doesn’t work that way. You don’t go to the commander in chief and say “This is what I want to do.” Those who are around the President are appointed. And if you want to serve the Lord, you must put away all the ideas that you want to do. And you’ve got these ideas of maybe fame, or maybe something important. And God says, I don’t want you to seek after fame. I’m pleased with faithfulness! I’m pleased when you give a cup of cold water in My Name. I’m pleased when you do my will to the least of these my brethren. Doing God’s will may mean very menial tasks. In fact, I am certain, that if God will use you, He’s going to have you counting sheep on the backside of a desert for quite a while. I am certain that if God is going to use you, you are going to be faithful in the little things before you do anything noteworthy for God, and when you get to the place where God does something noteworthy through you, you will be the meekest person because you will have been humbled by God. You’ll know that He’s done it all, and you’ll give Him all the glory.
Illustration: I remember I was in my sophomore year at college. I wanted to do the big things for God. I had great ideas. I was elected to be an officer of the ministerial class, I was chaplain of my literary society, I had been given a scholarship for my entire tuition and was to be a residence hall leader. I was too busy to be faithful in the little things. I was too busy to get to class on time. I was too busy to keep my word and show up for this thing or that. I wanted to do the big things. God in a moment took all that away. Little by little, my demerit record built up. There was a rule where I went to college that if a student got 75 demerits, no matter how he achieved that, he would lose all privileges, all scholarships, all positions of leadership. You were to have no influence except to simply be there. You couldn’t even go off campus. The week before the end of my sophomore year, somebody came to my door—somebody who voted for me to be an officer in the ministerial class—and he said, “Matt, you’re campused.” I said, “No I’m not.” And I went over to the list in the hall, and I scratched my name out. You know what? That didn’t work. I got a call from the manager of that dormitory, and he said, “I love you Matt. Somebody said we should take some of these demerits away because you are just a couple over. But,” he said, “we’re not taking them away because you’re not faithful in the little things, and you’ll not be faithful in the big things.” Do you know that was the best moment of my time at college? Instead of checking the hall and keeping people accountable, I was sweeping the hall at night when people went to bed. And I had a lot of time to talk with God. “I would rather be a door keeper in the house of the Living God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Give me some toothpicks to count for God’s glory! Give me a toilet to scrub for God’s glory! Give me some bulletins to fold for God’s glory. Give me a tape to change for God’s glory. Give me a web site to update for God’s glory. Give me the little things that nobody sees for God’s glory. Let me do them!
When I was in college I wanted to preach. Do you know who my audiences were for years? Nursing homes. Street corners. Doors slammed in my face. I preached, and people thought I was a fool at times. If you’re not willing to serve in the menial areas of whatever God has gifted you in, if you’re not willing to give a cup of cold water in His name, you will not do anything for the Lord or for eternity. You’ll just sit in your pew and get your theological knowledge, and go home, and think that you are doing God’s will, and you will be deceived.
But I pray that that is not where you are, and that is not your motive, because God has something for you to do. He has something for you to do. Are you willing to do whatever God wants you to do? Are you willing to wipe off that chalk board where you had all your plans laid out? Some of you more mature in the faith remember when you had your whole life planned out. Do you know I’m not doing anything I had decided that I was going to do when I was in college? Wipe it off the chalk board, crumple it up, go to God, and say, “I’ll do whatever you want me to do.
On your grave stone, in between the year of your birth and the year of your death there is a dash. Let me ask you, what are you doing with the dash? When were you saved? What are you doing from the time you got saved until the time of your death? How many of you are getting close to forty or past that, way past that some of you? You know the average lifespan of a man is 73, and the average lifespan of a woman is 79. For most of you, more than half of your life is over. It’s over, gone, and it will never be repeated. You can never do it over again. What are you doing from the time you were saved till the time you die? God’s got something for you to do. Are you doing it? Are you involved?
You say, “I’m waiting for the pastor to call on me.” I am not the Holy Spirit. I don’t give spiritual gifts. I’m really not the administrator of this church, and if I am, you’re in big trouble. Jesus Christ is the Capitan of our salvation. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings the operation of the spiritual gifts into this church. And He deploys you where you should be. I am praying that after this message I will get some phone calls saying “Pastor, I want to serve in this area.”
Conclusion: I want to see everyone of you involved, creative, obeying not the voice of your Pastor. I hope you don’t see me; I hope you don’t hear me. I pray that you are obeying the voice of the only one that can teach you [“They shall all be taught of God”]—you are obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit of God in your life. Is that your prayer? Are you doing something for God? He left you here because He’s got something for you to do!
Closing Hymn: 635 I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
[1] See the article: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/03/1431228. Accessed 05 November 2005.