God Has Work For You To Do
Ephesians 2:8-10
8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
There was a minister that was out taking a walk on one of the streets in his neighborhood. As he was walking, he noticed a small boy attempting to ring the doorbell on the porch of a house. The boy was short and the doorbell was higher than usual. The boy could not quite reach it. So the minister stepped up to the porch beside the boy and reached up and aggressively rang the doorbell for the boy. ‘Then the minister said - And now what young man? ‘Now, the boy said, we run like crazy’! UB - Now that you have been saved: what’s next?
Let me begin this message today with some question. As you hear these questions, do not allow your mind to turn and focus on anybody else. I know human nature. I know that when you hear these questions you will immediately think that the Pastor is talking about “them” – the “other folk”. But right now, let your Holy Ghost flashlight shine deep into your own soul and nobody else’. The whole intent here is for us to do some self-soul searching. Now the questions are - Am I doing what God wants me to do in the congregation where He has placed me? If everybody gave what I give – could the church meet the needs of the people as God intends? If everybody in the Church work as I do- could the church function effectively? If we answer those questions truthfully, for most of us, the answers would be no – no – and no! I did say most of us because this branch of Zion is no different than any other. The formula is the same regardless of where you go. 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. I don’t know first-hand here because I don’t deal with the money but I have heard that the same formula applies to giving. 80% of the income is given by 20% of the people. Now the formula may not be exact but I can say that it is closer to being accurate than the other way around.
Now my intent today is not to beat us up. Satan is doing enough of that and I don’t intend on helping him out one bit. My intent today is to get all of us on the same page with God on how He wants His church to function. I want everybody in this place to realize that you are not a mistake, you are loved and you are here for a purpose. I want the people under the sound of my voice today to truly be blessed and be a blessing. I want all of us to live at the level and purpose that God had planned from the foundation of the world. And UB - I know this first-hand that when we get on the same page with God on any and everything – when we do what we are designed and called to do - we will truly have a blessed life. And let me add this - you will never be all that you could - should - had ought a be until you do what God put you here to do. And as the formula goes – 20% of the folk in here will witness to the truth of that proclamation. Now if you can’t say Amen, go ahead and go hum!
Our text for today is a very familiar piece of Scripture and it is directed to people that’s already saved. And as saved folk we will gladly quote vss. 8-9 but we don’t quote vs. 10 that much. And when we do that, we only get the first part of the thought and miss the rest of what Paul is saying. See - when Paul begins this chapter, he wants us to remember where we were and what condition we were in before Christ. Then when we get to verses 8 & 9 he wants us to understand how we got to be where we are in Christ. Then he continues the thought in verse 10 with what God intends to do through us now that we’re in Christ. We were saved by grace so God can use us for His glory.
What we need to understand today is that salvation is not the end of God’s plans for us, it is just the beginning. Yes He wants all of us to spend eternity with Him in glory. He wants all of us to be saved. But He didn’t save us just for heaven. If that was the case, as soon as we got saved – as soon as we accept Jesus as Lord, we would instantly be caught up to glory. But that is not the case. There is a whole lot of work for God’s people to do on this earth before we get to heaven. Even Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Philippians 2:13 says - For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. We were not saved just for heaven and we were not saved just to be church goers either.
Some people believe that God’s purpose for their lives is to come and fill a pew every Sunday morning. Now that is certainly a good thing to do isn’t it? Don’t you feel better when you come to church and get uplifted by the singing of the hymns? Don’t you feel good when you take part in worship and hear a good spiritual message? Isn’t it great to have fellowship with God’s people at church? Sure it is! Attending church is a good thing and most people are satisfied in doing that. But the bad part is that they have no intention of doing anything else. They see that coming to church and worshiping Him here in spirit and truth is all that they are supposed to do! UB - The Christian life is to be much more than that. It’s a glorious adventure – it’s a purpose filled life. God has chosen us, called us, saved us, and He has a plan for us! And that plan does not include being pew members. That reminds me of a poem I read recently:
Once upon a pew I sat and heard the preacher ask,
"We need someone to teach a class, now who will take this task?"
Then God sat down beside me there and said, "Son, that’s for you."
"But, Lord, (said I) to stand before a class is one thing I can’t do.
Now Bill would be the man to call, there’s nothing he won’t do.
I’d rather hear the lesson taught from here upon my pew."
Once upon a pew I sat and heard the preacher ask,
"We need someone to lead the songs, now who will take this task?"
Then God sat down beside me there and said, "Son, that’s for you."
"But Lord, (said I) to sing before a crowd is one thing I can’t do.
Now brother King will do the job, there’s nothing he won’t do.
I’d rather hear the music played from here upon my pew."
Once upon a pew I sat and heard the preacher ask,
"I need someone to keep the door, now who will take this task?"
Then God sat down beside me there and said, "Son, that’s for you."
But I said: “Saying things to strangers, Lord, is one thing I can’t do.
Now Tom can talk to people, Lord, there’s nothing he won’t do.
I’d rather someone come to me and greet me on the pew."
As years just seemed to pass me by, I heard that voice no more.
Until one night I closed my eyes and woke on heaven’s shore.
’Twas four of us together there to face eternity.
And God said, "I need just three of you to do a job for me."
"O Lord,” I cried, "I’ll do the job, there’s nothing I won’t do."
But Jesus said, "I’m sorry, Friend, in Heaven there is no pew."
We were not saved UB to be church goers or pew members. As Christians, we have things to do, and if we don’t do them they may not get done. God worked for us in salvation. Now He wants to work in us so He can shine through us. Verses 8-9 makes it clear that we are not saved by works. And verse 10 balances this with the fact that we are saved to work.
I realize that some people can get confused sometimes about works in the church because they see Saved Folk always working. What I am trying to drive home is that they are not working to be saved. They are working because they are saved. They are, 9 times out of 10, doing what God has created them to do. That is why it is so hard to get them to retire. What they do is a part of their new nature. God made them that way. And when some folk see these people doing so much work in the church, some of them get it twisted and believe that you must work to be saved. No!! It is that when you are saved – good works follow you – good works flow from you – God gets glory out of your life when you do what He created you to do! Works don’t produce salvation but it sure is evidence of salvation.
Now let that marinate in your soul for a minute or two as I pull over and discuss a couple things. The text tells us that we are God’s workmanship. This tells us who we are. The “we” refers to Christians and our new life is the result of God’s workmanship (We could not work for our salvation). God has changed us into something different than what we were before. The Bible tells us that if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a brand new creature. God is the Master Worker, we are the products of His workmanship and now He is using us for His purposes. UB - God has work for you to do!
We have heard and I believe we understand now that we have been saved and made over – created to do good works. But we need to understand that we are not called to do every possible good work, everywhere, and at all times. Verse10 really tells us to only do the good works which God has ordained or prepared in advance for us to do. Our good works are customized to our circumstances and they will be Spirit-led appointments. Well Rev - what would that be? To be quite blunt – whatever God decides. What God has for me to do is not what He has for you to do! What happens at First Baptist may not be a good idea for Union Baptist. And likewise – what we need here at Union Baptist might not be a good idea at Mt. Gilead or St. John. Whatever God wants us to do - He has it already worked out – All we need to do is, as the text says, - walk in them.
We have it in us to do what God has for us to do. God has given all of us gifts. I don’t mean gifts of gold and silver, houses and land or any other kinds of stuff – I am talking about gifts of ability. Everybody is not equipped to do the same thing but everybody is equipped to do something. If you are saved, you are gifted to do something. As a matter of fact, what God has for you to do – nobody can do it better than you. God has prepared all these good works in advance. We don’t have to create them or rely on our own strength and knowhow. God has them all prepared. He has the opportunities all laid out in front of us and the appointments scheduled. That is how God works – He prepares these opportunities in advance so we can live out the purpose for which we are created. (Example of how God sends people your way)
Now if you don’t know what that gift is – all you need to do is get on your knees and ask God what your gift is and what and where He wants you to utilize that gift. If you are here, 9 times out of 10 He wants you to utilize your gift right here. Don’t worry about things like that has never happened here before. You’ll be the one that goes down in history as the one starting that ministry here. You know – there are so many ministries that are just waiting to be started – right here – with the people that are already here and for the benefit of the people that are already here. I know somebody has said to themselves that “somebody” ought to do this or that. Or I wish we could do this or that here. Well – If God has planted that idea in “your head” He has plans on using you to get it started. And I know God can use those ministries to draw other people to this branch of Zion. This is one of our purposes for still being here now that we are saved. We are God’s handiwork. He will use us to bring in other folk. He can then use those folk to go places where we can’t go and reach people that we can’t reach. UB - I get excited when I think about God’s plan and you and me being a part of it. Am I by myself in here on that? We are not saved to be pew members or church goers. God has work for us to do. We don’t want to lose sight of why God saved us.
Several years ago, in London, England the city officials received a lot of complaints about their mass transit system. The main problem was that people were complaining about how the city’s buses drove right past the bus stops even though people were standing in line waiting to be picked up. When the London Transit Authorities responded to the complaints, they issued the following statement which has become infamous with public relations departments everywhere. It read: “It is impossible for us to maintain our schedules if we are always having to stop and pick up passengers.” What was wrong with that statement? They got their priorities confused. They thought their job was to keep a schedule, when in reality; their job was to pick up passengers and deliver them to their destinations. Because they got their priorities confused, they failed to do that for which they were created.
What did God have in mind when He saved you? Verse10 tells us that when we were saved we were God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. In other words, God had something in mind for you to do when He saved you. He saved you to do “good works” He had prepared ahead of time. His purpose for us as Christians is to serve Him by doing good works.
Knowing that God has work for us to do and a purpose to fulfill, will we stop laying out all of the excuses? (I can’t do anything – I’m too busy already etc.) Let me go back to the questions I asked at the beginning of this message. Am I doing what God wants me to do in the congregation where He has placed me? If everybody gave what I give – could the church meet the needs of the people as God intends? If everybody in the Church work as I do- could the church function effectively? If your answers were no – Let me urge you today to get on the same page with God – allow Him to use you for His glory. I don’t think – in this lifetime – that the percentage of people vs. workers will ever change. But I urge you today to become a part of the 20%. We don’t want to burn anybody out – trying to do all that is needed and doing some things that they were not called to do. (20% see work that needs to be done – don’t see anybody stepping up – they take the task because they don’t want to see God’s work undone) We don’t want to have a few people “doing everything in the church.” But, ideally UB, we’d like to see everyone doing “something” in the church.
Look – I know you are busy - fact is - we’re all busy. We may be busy doing different things, but we’re all involved with things that occupy our time (Now that’s another sermon for another day). So being busy is not a good excuse for not doing the will of God. There are so many people in the Bible that were busy when God called them to do what they were placed on this earth to do. When God wanted a servant, He called:
* Moses when he was busy tending his father-in-law’s flock at Horeb.
* Gideon when he was busy threshing wheat.
* David when he was busy caring for his father’s sheep.
* Nehemiah when he was busy serving the King as his cupbearer.
* James, John, Peter and Andrew when they were busy fishing & mending their nets in their father’s fishing business.
When you leave today you will have no excuses because I am taking them all away.
Just because you are doing what you are doing now and feeling comfortable doing it does not mean that that is where God wants you to stay. He did not call you to be comfortable. He saved you and called you to do good works. And you are not done until God says you are done. If you are STILL here – there is STILL work for you to do. You are not too old (Moses was at least 80 when God called him) or too young (Jeremiah) for God to use you. The final question is – will you allow God to get glory out of your life – will you let Him shine in and through you? For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. UB - we can only fulfill God’s goal for our lives when we begin to serve Jesus. If you’ll just give yourself to Him in the small things, He will do some great and even unexpected things in your life.
Invitation
