23andWE : His Masterpiece

I am God's masterpiece. I am God's masterpiece. You know, a masterpiece is, if you think about it, it's like an artist will do certain works of art, but then there's that one, that one work of art that's above all works of art. If you think of Michelangelo, you might think that maybe it's the statue David, or maybe it's the painting of the Sistine Chapel, but it's the work of art that actually stands above, and it shows that there was actually creativity and intelligence and a skill set that went in.

It wasn't like me that I just took some, you know, I splashed some paint on a canvas and called it art. You know, there's a lot of people that do that today. You know, you pretty much can call anything art. And I want to tell you this, when God created you as a masterpiece, he didn't just splash some paint on a canvas.

There was actually some intelligence that went into it. There was some skill that went into it. There was some intentionality on God's part that he had a reason and a purpose for making you new. So if you would, if you have your Bibles, I want to read this passage from Ephesians chapter two today.

I'm actually, I realize I'm going backwards in the chapter two, a few weeks ago, I preached the passage after this, but today we're going to look at verses four through 10, and really specifically verse 10 is where we're going to zone in on. So Ephesians chapter two, verse four, I think it's the next slide, I want to go to that. There we go. Bless you.

But God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Now notice there it says, well these two verses, that we are not saved by what? We're not saved by works.

See we're saved by grace because God did it, it was all him, had nothing to do with you. That when you were, it said even when I was dead in sin, even when I was a sinner, even when I didn't know God, didn't care about God, couldn't give him a second thought, before I was even born it said, God loves me, and God died for me, and it said it's all by grace. And so grace was God's part, that he extended, Paul says this and Titus he says, the grace that brings salvation has appeared to all men, so that by grace God has provided this way to the Father, but then our part is to do what? Through faith, that we reach out and we receive what he's already provided.

So it says that works, if you could work for your salvation, if you could do a bunch of good things, and come into right relationship with God, guess what? I've got a reason to, hey look at me, look at me, but you can't. So if you're doing that, quit it, because you didn't have anything to do with it. So he says, not of works less any man should boast, but it says we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus, for what, for good works, right?

So we don't get saved by works, but once we're saved, there should be good works flowing out of us. And what I really want to address today is a lot of times, when we think of good works, we think of good works, well, let's see, I need to go to church, I need to, well, wouldn't these leading worship, I better stand up, that's probably a good thing to do. Well, Fred's preaching, I better pretend like I'm interested, because that's probably something good to do. Maybe I should give my tithes, maybe I should, whatever.

And all those things could be considered, and probably are good works, but what happens as believers, sometimes we think good works are meant to be done just here. This is not your field for good works. See what happens, oh, I'm getting way ahead of myself, but I just gotta say it, the church building becomes the bushel under which we hide our light. See, we're meant to be a light to the world.

So when we're thinking of good works today, I just don't want you to think, oh, I helped somebody from their car into the church, that's great, I'm glad you did, we need that, but good works exist beyond just here. All right, okay, so I can probably cut five minutes off the end of my message, so. This word, workmanship, it's actually only used two times in the New Testament, we're gonna look at it in a few minutes. It's also used in Romans chapter one, verse 20, but it essentially means that which is or was made, it's something that was made, it comes from the word, which means to make or to do or to fashion something, it has to do with being created.

And so here's a couple other versions, and on the next slide I just wanna read a few of these two, so the new living we already saw it says, we are God's masterpiece. The English Bible says we are God's accomplishments. We are his, the amplified workmanship, and in parentheses I have his own master work, a work of art. We are God's handiwork.

If you think about, now some people will say, and I don't know enough about English, because I didn't do well in English in school, but some people will say that the Greek word poema, which is this word, handiwork, is where we get the English word poem, it makes for a nice story, I don't know if it's true, but let's just say this, if God is the artist, then I'm what, the piece of, I'm glad you said art. If he's the sculptor, I'm the sculptor, if he's the author, I'm the story, all right, so that God is the one who creates, God is the one who makes, he made you. And if you think about this, that anytime you look, and if you read about art, what do we know about art? That art is beautiful, art is valuable.

And art, at its essence, actually is an expression, what, of the nature of the artist. So that what's on the inside of the artist is now fleshed out somehow, either through a sculpture or a painting or some sort of piece of work. And if you think about the implication of that, that you are the physical expression of the inner nature of God, you're beautiful. Man, you better tell your wives that.

You're valuable, you're an expression of God himself. I mentioned Michelangelo, good to next slide. He said it's the job of the sculptor to look at a block of stone and see the image in there. Actually, what he says, every block of stone is a statue inside it, it's a task of the sculptor to discover it.

See, God looked at you when you were just a block of stone. He saw something in you that was worth redeeming. He saw something in you that was worth dying for. And he said, I see great potential in him, I see something special in her.

Michelangelo, they asked him one time, like, how do you do what you do? He said one time, he said, I saw an angel in that block of stone, and I carved until I set it free. And so I just kept carving, and there it was. The average person can't see who God has made you to be.

See, the average person sees the block of stone that you used to be. So often, we continue to see people the way that they were before God made them new. He saw you in the block, he's brought you out of the block. So quit looking at the block that it used to be, because it doesn't exist anymore.

See, when Michelangelo shapes that sculpture, when he makes David, you know, what's that statue, how David's standing, probably more like this. But like, wreath around his head. I actually got to see David in Italy one time. And I had to put like the little leaf over, you know, the bottom part, I couldn't really post, couldn't post that picture.

But once the sculpture is left, what used to be a block is now just in shambles. See, we're down here looking in the remaining stones, trying to rebuild what's no longer. When what God has, after he's done with you, he has a beautiful piece of art. He has a sculpture that is his handiwork.

Isaiah says in Isaiah 45, nine, look at this verse, in the New English translation. It says, can the clay say to the potter, what are you doing? Have you ever asked God that? God, what are you doing?

Yeah, stop it. That's you. If I make something, what gives the thing that I make, the right to ask me what I'm doing? What are you doing, God?

Your understanding is not a prerequisite to do what God's asked you to do. You may understand it, you may not. Questions are OK, with the right heart. But when you're asking God thinking you know more than he does, I can't help you.

We'll pray for you. And then to say, your work lacks skill. See, there's this thing called false humility. A lot of Christians fall into.

And you try to debase and demean yourself as a way of looking humble. I'm all about humility. It says that let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery, to be equal with God, but humbled himself and was made in the likeness of man and came to serve. So I'm all about that.

But here's what happens when we get into false humility. Oh, I'm nothing. Oh, I'm just this. And I'm going to be gentle with this guitar.

And I'm not going to play. I'm not sure if this is a less Paul or. Oh, it's not OK. But let's just say this was a less Paul.

I don't think about guitars. I know John does, but Don. But if I demean a less Paul guitar, that thing's a piece of crap. That thing puts off all soul music.

Am I talking about this or the person that made this? See, when you demean yourself and when you demean other people who are God's workmanship, God's masterpiece, you're demeaning not them. You're demeaning the artist. I'll put this back before somebody gets hurt.

I feel like I want to bang something today. It's OK as long as you're willing to pay for it to get a new one, right? My dad used to say he's like, break whatever you want. He's got to pay for it when you're done.

I used to have an awful pimp, or I used to break stuff. Like you probably wouldn't recognize the me that now is. The me that used to be is in shambles somewhere. We're not resurrected him either.

I told you before that this word workmanship is also found in Romans 1, verse 20. Now, Romans 1, Paul is saying that because of God's creation, that everyone is without excuse, which means nobody has an excuse because it says that the things of God's unseen attributes can be clearly seen and understood by what is made. It says this, since creation of the world is invisible attributes, that is his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived being understood by what has been made. That's the same word workmanship.

Don't use twice in the Bible. So that they are without excuse. So let me ask you a question. If God's physical creation, trees, birds, land, cattle, all those things, if God's physical creation help people or actually don't help people, but leave people without an excuse, that those things clearly and understandably declare that the eternal attributes of God his power and his nature, what are you declaring?

What does your life declare? If you are his workmanship and workmanship in the natural realm creation leaves people without an excuse that there is a God that says that his eternal power and divine nature is clearly perceived and understood by what's been made. You know what that says to me as the fact that I'm now at a greater level, not just a physical need, but a part of creation, but the new me, the spirit me. If the physical me, if creation, shows that there is a create tour and actually gives people an undeniable reason to know that there is a creator and that he is powerful and that his divine attributes can be clearly seen, then shouldn't the new me do the same thing?

And what does your life do? And what does your life show about God? Like if I'm his creation, am I living in such a way that people would know that there is a God? Am I living in such a way that gives them like no excuse for not knowing, excuse the double negative?

It says that I am created by him. All right, next. So I'm God's workmanship. I'm his masterpiece.

I'm his creation. I'm his work of art. You're his work of art. You're beautiful.

You're valuable. You're special. You're like his defining work. And he says that we are his workmanship.

And he just didn't slap us on a wall somewhere. It said that we are his workmanship created where? It's in green, in case you can't see it. Created in Christ.

Why does that matter? See if I was just the new me but I was outside of Christ, what did Jesus say in John 15? He says, apart from me, you can do nothing. And so God just didn't make you a new you and say, OK, good luck.

Have at it. Go do some miracles. Go do something good. And my daughter who's 22, she really got on me this week, she goes, dad, our training plan here sucks.

This is at work. Not a church at work. I'm like, well, OK. What do you want to do?

It's always my right answer. What do you want to do about it? So God didn't do that. God didn't just bring us on the team so to speak and say, OK, go figure it out for yourself.

He said, I created you. I created you really, really special. And now I know he created you, but I created you in Christ. And the reason that matters, I'll just give you a few things very quick.

Second Corinthians 5, 17, and it's a verse we talk about a lot of says, therefore, if anyone be in Christ, he is what? So in Christ, how do you get in Christ? The day you get saved, it says in 1 Corinthians 12, it says, by one spirit, we are all baptized, replaced into one body. So when you get saved, the Holy Spirit actually baptizes you into the body of Christ, different from the baptism that Jesus does.

But he places you in the body. And so that when you're in Christ, that it says, once you're in Christ, when you receive Jesus, you become new creation. In Christ, all those old pieces of rock, all that stuff that used to be you is gone. It says, old things have what?

Pass the way. All things have become new. See, we've got to quit going back and like, oh, we pick up these. I need these pieces of gravel that used to be me.

Because this is my identity. Everybody knows me as an adulterer, so I need to carry these. Everybody knows me as an addict, so I need to carry these. Throw them away.

Old things have passed away. Romans 8, 1 says, so in Christ, I'm new creation. Romans 8, 1 says, this is, therefore, there is now what? So in Christ, no condemnation.

What's another thing that's going to keep you from doing what God wants you to do? It's a condemnation. It is a major weapon of the enemy. See, when you're in Christ, it says, there is, therefore, not tomorrow, right now.

There's now no condemnation. See, anybody ever been downtown Cumberland? You ever seen a sign on a building? And the building says, condemned.

What does that mean? It means it's not fit for use. It's uninhabitable. This word pertaining to us means that there is no guilty sentence.

You can identify with that some of you. Anybody ever had a guilty sentence? Yeah. Well, you had a guilty sentence.

In Christ, there isn't one. So don't let that thing hold you back. Jesus says, I've made you fit for use. I've taken away the guilty sentence.

In me, there's no condemnation so that you can be free. Walk forward. The other thing in Christ, it says that we're sanctified. There's a big 50-cent word.

Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 2. It says, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ called to be saints. This word, sanctified, means that you've been set apart for a purpose. It means that you're holy.

You don't have to like some churches and some denominations say, well, you've got to do this, this and this to be a saint. No. The day you're sanctified, God says you're a saint. That you are sanctified in Christ.

The verb tense in this word is perfect, which means it's once and for all time. You are sanctified. Now, there's another process of sanctification that Paul talks about in Hebrews 10. I think it's verse 14.

It says, by one offering, he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. So that there's sanctification that takes place the moment you're in Christ. I am in Christ. I'm a new creation.

I've got no condemnation. I am sanctified, set apart. I am holy. See the reason that God wants you to live holy?

Because you're holy. I'm not living holy to get holy. See, it says, in Ephesians 4, 24, it says, put on the new man, put on the new man who is created according to God. That means your new man is made in proportion to God.

Put on the new man who is made according to God in righteousness and true holiness. The new you is righteous. The new you is holy. The new you has no condemnation.

The new you is the new you. See, you can put all that stuff behind you. Last one. And we read this in earlier in the text in Ephesians 2.

It says that we were raised, I'd say raised together, raised together. And made, oh, let's go back. So we died, right? We died with Christ.

We were made alive together. We were raised together. And then where's Jesus seated? If you don't know, go back to chapter.

Jesus is seated where? At the right hand of the Father. Right? It says that he made us, when he raised us, he made us sit together with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Do you think you could serve somebody from that position? A position that you are holy, a position that you have no condemnation, a position of all authority that unseated in heavenly places in Christ at the right hand of Father? Do you think you could put some of that stuff behind you and quit letting it hold you back? See what happens so often is we're down here here.

Oh, God, help me. Oh, God, help me. Right? And there's a time for that.

Like Peter, Lord, save me. But you need to think about, because when I'm in my position, guess who I don't see anymore? Me. I see them.

And so from a position of being seated in Christ, I can now see a world that needs Jesus and quit making it all about me and my needs and what I need to do. See, sometimes your miracle is in the middle of you helping somebody else. Do you remember when Abraham prayed for a bimelach? Abraham's wife, Sarah, is barren.

A bimelach and all his wives are barren. Says Abraham prayed for a bimelach. His wife was healed. All the women were healed.

And Bam, Sarah was healed and was conceived. And sometimes your miracle is on the other side of you praying for somebody else that has the same need that you have. I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm sorry.

All right. I don't even know if we're going to get there today. All right. Create who created us?

God. God. And we're God's what? Workmanship, masterpiece, whatever you want to call it.

I'm created by God. I'm created in Christ is my position. And from my position in Christ, what am I created for? Good works.

I'm not working to get in Christ. You can't do it. You're in Christ by faith. You're in Christ because the Holy Spirit placed you there.

And now that you realize your position, you serve from your position. You do good things from your position. It says we are in His workmanship, creating Christ Jesus. For good works, get this.

Which God prepared. So it's not like, let's see. God's not up there. Like, oh, geez, I'm going to come up with something for me to do today.

Oh my gosh. Whitney needs a job. Oh, I also got a couple of something for her. Oh my God.

No. God's not like, what's it called? He's not like this quarterback or in the defense and trying to figure out what to do. He's, yeah.

He called the play a billion years ago. He said go long because I know where the enemy's going to be. I know where you need to be. And I've already called it.

You just need to get where I'm throwing the ball. Because if you'll go where I told you to go, what's the receiver do? They just go to the spot, right? And the ball's there.

That's all you got to do. See Jesus declared these beforehand. It wasn't like, oh, shoot. I've just got saved.

Now, I got, no. God knew in his foreknowledge who would accept him. He predestined you to be conformed to the image of Jesus. He made you righteous and all those things.

But he planned ahead of time these things for you to do. See the difference is here, it says, if God planted, do you think it's already been planned? Okay. Right?

But here's what? God's will does not automatically happen. God's will does not automatically happen. If you want people to say, well, it's God's will, it's going to come to be.

No, Peter says this. He says, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God's will is for everybody to be saved. We know that not everybody accepts Jesus.

Here's one for you. First that's the lady in chapter four. I will argue all day long that God's will doesn't always come to pass. You want one?

This is God's will for you. That you abstain from sexual immorality. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. If God's will always came to pass, nobody would be having sex outside of marriage.

Bam. Where are you? Where are you going to go from there? First that's the lady in the spot.

This is God's will concerning you that in all things you give thanks, if there was ever a time that you weren't thankful for the situation you were in, God's will didn't happen. Bam, done. Okay. Not for that.

But here's the thing. God has a plan. God has good works prepared for each and every one of us. He prepared them an eternity pass.

It said that we should do what? Walk in them. This word should, should walk, is in what's called the subjunctive mood. It's the mood of potential and possibility.

It means that it may or may not happen. Guess who decides that? You do. See, God did it.

He planned it. He said, I want you to do such and such and such. Now it's possible. Now there's potential, but you have to choose to want to do it.

It says, see, here's the thing. It says that we should do what? Oh, I'm walking. I'm walking in good now.

That's not it. What do you mean to walk in good works? It doesn't mean I'm walking down the street. Oh, I'm getting the door for this lady and I'm walking on.

No. To walk, that word means to live. It literally means the entirety of your life. It's the word peripityo, which means everything.

It's to make use of every opportunity in your life. It's that everything you do should be a good work. Now how different is that from, oh, I went to church, check. Oh, I put my tie then, check.

Oh, I sang three songs and sat down, check. Well, that's only about one zillionth of your week. And what he says, he says, before the foundations of the earth, I planned good works for you that you should live a lifestyle that does good works on and on and on. And by the way, the way you live actually reflects me and who I am so that your lifestyle of good works should leave people without an excuse that there's a creator that he's powerful, that his nature is to love them.

Now you think you left something on the table? Yeah, we did. Let's go the next slide. See, there's a difference between doing, you know, unsafe people can do good stuff.

Yeah. Don't clip one thing I'm going to say. I don't need the Holy Spirit to serve food to somebody Thursday night. However, however, if I serve in the power of the Holy Spirit, God opens up doors for something more than just food to take place.

See, it says this, Peter says this when Peter's preaching an Acts chapter 10. He says, how that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth. Why did he say Jesus of Nazareth? It speaks of his humanity.

Guess what we are? Humans, I'm Fred of RIDGLY, right? How God anointed Fred of RIDGLY with the Holy Spirit and with power. Who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed to the devil because God was with Fred of RIDGLY, right?

Put your name in there. Because when Jesus came to the earth, He came as a man without sin. Jesus took care of the sin problem. When you accept Jesus, your sins are gone.

At this point, once you've accepted Jesus, it's only how open to the Holy Spirit in your life will you be. See, Jesus didn't just go around doing miracles. He went around doing good and healing all. See, they go together.

How many times did people come to Jesus for food? And He said, you're only coming to me because you want to eat. Oh, by the way, while you're here, bam, bam. Let me cast out that devil.

Let me heal those blind eyes. I don't care why you show up. Well, if they're not coming for the right reason, who cares? I want an opportunity to tell somebody about Jesus.

Well, what you're doing looks awful like the world. Who cares? Am I sending? No.

Am I opening the door to Jesus? Yes. I do what you got to do. I become all things to all people so that I might win some.

I want to win some people to Jesus. Do you? Man, there's some people that need Jesus in Cumberland. How God anointed city-reached believers with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good in Cumberland and healing all that were oppressed to the devil because God was with them.

I'm ready to kick some devil butt right now. I'm ready. Well, I didn't got my message yet. All right.

Okay. So I just, I really want to wrap up. I just want to show you one story from Jesus. We know that he went about doing good.

We know he went about healing because he's really like he's the standard, right? Like too often my experience, your experience becomes your standard. It shouldn't be. Well, I prayed for him.

They didn't get better. Well, the standard is that he healed all who were sick. I mean, it was demon possessed, got the demon cast out. That's the standard.

And so when what doesn't happen that that's what scripture says and that doesn't happen, I go back to the guy that wrote the book. I just happened to know him. Like you do too. You realize that?

He actually lives in you. We believe it or not. He like got direct access. And so what happens though, a lot of times we get distracted.

So we're to be doing good works as a lifestyle. But what happens sometimes is life gets in the way. Life I've ever gotten away with you doing what God told you to do. Yeah, it does.

It does. I get it. It doesn't work. You, whatever you do, there's life that happens.

I want to show you a story about how Jesus didn't let life get in the way. Okay? Because here, let's go. John chapter 9.

So what happened? I want to start with John chapter 9 verse 1. But then I want to show you something, we're going to go backwards. So remember, when your Bible was written, I don't remember what century it was, but maybe the 1500s or something.

They put it in the chapter and verse to help us read it easier and find different things. But remember when this was originally written, it was just one big letter. So verse 9 says this. This is the guy that Jesus sent to the pulist to watch.

He never puts my own eyes. He says, I got to watch the pulist. That's his story. Verse 1 says, now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from his birth.

All right? So what do we, so here we are, you know, Jesus in the disciples. Kumbaya. They're just walking around, singing kumbaya, right?

And they pass along this blind guy. And of course, Jesus, you know, okay, man, let's stop and pray. Because I want to see, that's not what happened. That's not what happened.

Let's go backwards. I love this. Verse 59 in chapter 8. So Jesus had just said before Abraham was, I am.

And they're like, well, you're 59, 50 years old. You couldn't have been around when Abraham was around several thousand years ago. And verse 59 says, then they took up stones to throw at him. So they're going to stone Jesus for blasphemy.

It says that they took up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself without the temple going through the midst of them. And so did what? And so, and so passed by.

Now as Jesus passed by, oh, he just like somehow slips through the crowd of people that are going to stone him. And in the midst of not getting stoned, and they still got the stones in their hands, he sees a blind guy as he passed by. Oh, what would you do? I'm out of here.

No, Jordan says no. Somebody said no. See what happens? How often if we were in the midst of a situation where somebody was trying to stone us, the death, that we would, in the midst of that, as he passed by, he sees a blind man.

Like would we have even seen the blind man? No. Because we'd be doing this. And so sometimes life, situations, disruptions, things people say, things people do.

Now we don't really have to worry about somebody trying to pick up a rock and stone us to death. But maybe you had a bad day at work. Maybe you got fired. Maybe you had an argument with your spouse.

Like that's a good reason not to do anything for about three days, right? Actually, we don't ever let it go three days. More like a week. No, let's get resolved quickly.

But see what happens is a lot of times we have an event happen in our life and then it becomes about, help me, Lord, help me, Lord, instead of seeing from a perspective of the right hand of the father that the person that was throwing the stone at me was being influenced by the enemy and that there's still somebody out there that needs Jesus. He says, and his disciples asked him saying, Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents, he was born blind next slide. And Jesus answered, neither this man or his parents sin, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. Remember what good works do?

They reveal who? They reveal the nature of the father. The God didn't sin. His parents didn't sin.

But that the nature of God could be revealed in him. I must work the works of him who sent me while it's day, the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I'm in the world, I'm in the light of the world. There comes a day, he says, there comes a time when nobody can work.

So you're called to a lifestyle of good works. But there comes a time when you can't work anymore. You either get too old, you quit, you die, the rapture happens, whatever. Something's going to happen, right?

The person you were supposed to do something, pray for, they die. I don't know. But there comes a time, and eventually when the rapture takes place, you know, you don't have time to do anymore. Jesus says, I'm going to work the works of him who sent me while it's day because night comes when nobody can work.

As long as I am in the church, oh, as long as I'm in the world, I am the light of the world. See, when we do the good works that God's called us to do, they actually illuminate the nature of the Father. See, too often what we think we're to do is illuminate sin. Oh, we need to expose sin.

No, we need to expose Jesus. And when I expose you to Jesus, you're not going to want to sin. When I expose you to his grace, yeah, let's give him a clap. Because grace never gives you an excuse to sin.

Grace actually empowers you to not sin. So I don't, I can expose your sin all day long. I can't change you. I can expose you to the one who can.

And that's what I'm supposed to do. See, Jesus said, as long as I'm in the world, I'm in the light of the world. But what did he say in Matthew 5? He said, you are the light of the world.

See, Jesus is in heaven. Jesus is physically at the right hand of the Father. He's given us his Holy Spirit in us. But he says, as long as you're here, you are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hid, nor do they lightly lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp sand, and it gives light to all that are in house. So here's what I was saying earlier, is I think a lot of times the church, we relegate our good works here. But I don't really need to see your good works to know that God's good, but there's some people out there that do need to know that. There's people out there that need to know about Jesus.

I want you to do good works in here. I want you to serve. I want you to be part of this ministry. But more than that, I want you to expose it, illuminating the Father to a dark and dying world.

He says this, he says, let your life so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. See, a chapter later, Jesus says, don't do your charitable deeds before men to be seen a man. So which is it? He says, do your good works to be seen.

He says, don't do your charitable deeds to be seen. Well, the key is really motive. See, am I doing what I'm doing so that you can see what I'm doing and wait to go. Wait to go there, Fred.

And what's that lead to? Ooh, look at me. Or am I doing what I'm doing to illuminate the nature of the Father so that someone will see Him and actually give glory to Him? And that's the life that we're called to.

That's the life that we're called to. So I'll close with this verse in Hebrews, chapter 10. A lot of people love quoting this verse during COVID. For sake, not the assembling of yourselves together.

As the manner of Psalm is, right? You guys ever heard that verse? But nobody wants to, it's actually that's like part B of part A, which comes before that. Why do we need to come together?

Right? I can't stir the pot if we're not here. Right? I'm a preaching pot stirrer is what I am.

Right? I'm stirring the pot. See, if we don't come together, we can't spurn each other on to love and good works. The things that we're called to do, behold, I give you a new commandment to love one another as Christ loved you.

I want you to live a lifestyle of good works. So the reason, well, I don't need to come to church. That's just a man made that way. Whatever.

But I can just tell you this, that when we come together, we can learn together, we can grow together, we can energize each other, and we can spur one another on to go out and then do the thing that we're being called to do. But there's a place for this. But this is just a small piece of that. And he says, and let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting meeting together as the habit of some is, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

The day's drawing near. The day's drawing near when we can't work. The day's drawing near to when there's no more light. The day's drawing near to when the Holy Spirit will be withdrawn out of the world because he's in us.

See, we have an opportunity. Remember that word walk, it needs to make due use of your opportunities. We've got an opportunity to impact the city. We've got an opportunity.

See, I don't care if you're changing your family. I don't care if you're changing your neighborhood. I don't care if it's the city, the state, the nation, whatever God's called you to do to live that lifestyle. I want you to do it.

I want you to be saying earlier, step onto that deeper water. Step by faith. Do the thing that God's called you to do.