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Who Are You? · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

• 0:00
  Ephesians chapter 2 and mainly verse 10 is what we're focusing on together this evening.
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  Ephesians 2 and at verse 10.
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  For we are as workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
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  which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
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  On Friday evening we heard Ramborda Campbell preaching on Ephesians chapter 1
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  and he asked a question as he began his sermon that evening.
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  He asked a question, how are you?
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  And he was looking at the theme of how we are blessed in all the blessings that we have in Christ Jesus.
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  How are you? We are blessed.
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  This evening as we go into chapter 2 I want to pick up on another question that we can look at together this evening.
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  We've seen how are you? I want to think this evening of who are you?
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  Who are you?
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  There's a TV series on the number of series of it.
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  I think there's over 20 series of it.
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  That's called Who Do You Think You Are?
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  And in the programme there's mainly celebrities who trace back their family history.
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  They ask that question, who do you think you are?
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  Who do you think you belong to?
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  What's your background? Where do you come from?
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  And it's fascinating to see how their different lives can go back in different directions.
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  And very often directions they know nothing about.
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  They find out things that they never knew.
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  It can be a real joy for some to find out something joyous experienced in their past, in their family.
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  But for others it can be quite a devastating blow at times as they hear of maybe tragedies or difficulties in their family's history.
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  And it's always full of emotion.
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  There's always emotion involved in it.
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  You cannot but be caught up in the emotion.
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  And perhaps there's times in your own experience that you've looked into your own family background.
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  Or you've heard stories about your family, the history behind it.
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  And you've been moved by things that you find out.
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  Things that you maybe never knew growing up and now you find out.
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  And it can be times of joy or it can be times of sadness.
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  But behind it all is this question, who am I?
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  Where have I come from and for what purpose?
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  But when we think of that in terms of the Bible, it's a question we have to ask ourselves as well.
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  The more we learn about Jesus, the more we experience his love towards us, his grace towards us,
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  it does make us ask that question, who am I?
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  Who am I?
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  Psalm 8, as we sang together, echoes that question.
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  As the psalmist looks at the wonder of all creation,
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  the heavens declaring all the glory of God and the fingers traced across it all of God.
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  And the psalmist asks, you know, what is man?
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  Who am I in the midst of all of this that you should remember me, that you should care for me?
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  But we are told in that psalm that he has honoured his people with glory and with love.
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  We are his workmanship.
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  That's what we see in verse 10 here.
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  We're given this powerful reminder that we belong to God.
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  We are precious to God.
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  Who am I?
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  We have this answer in verse 10.
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  We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works,
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  which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
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  And it's this I want to consider together, this verse, and three things from this verse.
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  As we think of that question, who am I?
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  I want to see that we are his workmanship.
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  Just taking the text as it is, we are his workmanship.
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  We are made for good works, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
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  And we are to walk in his ways, the ways that he has prepared for us.
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  So just these three things as we think of this question, who are you?
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  Well, first we see we are his workmanship.
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  We are his workmanship.
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  See, the more we see of Jesus, the more we see of the work that Jesus has done for us,
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  the more we see, as we did over the weekend, the love of God towards us that gave his Son,
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  who came into this world to die for his people,
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  to give his life, as it says, as a ransom for many.
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  What he has done for us, it all points towards his grace.
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  And in chapter 2, these verses 1 to 10, it's all about grace through faith
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  and what the grace of God has done for us.
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  Because you see in verse 1 to 4 that grace reached out to us.
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  You were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked.
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  You were dead, but grace reached out.
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  You see that powerful verse in verse 4, the grace that loved us.
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  But God being rich and mercy because of the great love with which he loved us,
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  the grace of his love towards us.
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  You see in verse 5, the grace that made us alive.
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  Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.
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  By grace, you have been saved.
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  And then you see that grace in verse 6 and 7 gives us a future.
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  It's raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
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  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
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  It gives us a future.
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  And it's grace that has secured our salvation.
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  By grace, in verse 8, you have been saved through faith.
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  The grace that saves.
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  And then when you come into verse 10, it closes off this little section
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  by reminding us that grace gives us meaning and purpose.
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  We are brought from death to life.
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  We are brought from that darkness into light.
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  And it's with a purpose.
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  That we belong to God.
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  And it almost begins just by looking at our origins, if you like.
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  Our beginning.
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  We are his workmanship.
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  It takes us right back to the beginning of the Bible.
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  It takes us back to Genesis chapter 1, where we are told in verse 27 that God created man in his own image.
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  In the image of God, he created him.
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  Male and female, he created them.
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  That in all of creation, in all the glory of creation, that we were made in his image.
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  That we are his workmanship.
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  It wasn't just Adam and Eve that were his workmanship.
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  We are all made in the image of God.
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  So it takes us right back.
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  We are his workmanship.
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  We are made in God's image.
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  All of us.
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  All that we see around us, we are all his workmanship.
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  Created in the image of God.
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  And so as Paul is writing to the Ephesians here, saying you are his workmanship, he is saying God is still working in you.
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  Because we know we're not perfect.
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  We know that we are a sinful people.
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  And yet God is still working.
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  Workmanship.
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  It's his ongoing process in us.
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  He speaks of here a workmanship that almost has a new beginning.
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  Like we see when we go back to verse 1.
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  You were dead in your trespasses and sins.
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  Verse 4.
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  God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, he made us alive together with Christ.
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  So you're brought from one place to another.
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  There's a new beginning.
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  And this is all by grace.
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  We are his workmanship.
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  And what workmanship means, another word that can be used in translating workmanship, is masterpiece.
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  You are his masterpiece.
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  Now, is that how you see yourself today?
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  As a masterpiece of God?
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  Paul, if you think of himself, how did he look on himself?
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  Did he see himself as a masterpiece of God?
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  God's workmanship, who God had worked powerfully in to bring from darkness to light.
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  How did he see himself?
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  Like many of us see ourselves.
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  He said in Romans chapter 7,
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  O wretched man that I am.
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  That's how he looked on himself.
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  Wretched man that I am.
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  But he didn't stop there.
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  He went on to say,
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  Who will deliver me from this body of death, this body of darkness that we're seeing here?
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  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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  There is deliverance.
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  There is being brought from death to life.
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  Being brought from wretch, being a wretch, to being God's masterpiece.
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  As John Newton, in that famous hymn, Amazing Grace, it was grace that saved a wretch like me.
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  And I'm sure many of us, all of us even, can think of that for ourselves.
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  We see ourselves, the wretched one that we are.
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  But when we see who we are in Christ, we are blessed, as Mordor reminded us.
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  And we are his workmanship.
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  It's ongoing.
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  Michelangelo, very famous for all his artistic talent.
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  He was once working on a large piece of rock.
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  It didn't look like anything.
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  It was just edges and chips and blemishes all over.
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  And yet here he was, starting to chip away at this rock.
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  And one person had said, passing by, he asked a question.
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  As he was chipping away at this rock, he was asking,
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  What are you doing?
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  What on earth are you doing?
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  Because the task just seemed so enormous that nothing could be done with this huge rock.
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  And yet Michelangelo replied, I am liberating an angel from this stone.
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  And sure enough, in the hands of a master craftsman like Michelangelo,
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  this rock that looked beyond anything was turned into a masterpiece.
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  And that's what God is doing with us.
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  We are, as described in the Old Testament, the potter and the clay.
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  We are just this lump of clay that he is working in to create a masterpiece.
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  We are in the hands of a great sculptor.
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  And we know sometimes what it's like just to be pressed by the hands of God.
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  There's so many ways that he gets rid of the blemishes and the faults within us.
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  He chips away and sometimes it's hard.
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  But yet we are his workmanship.
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  We are in his hands.
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  That is who we are.
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  We are his workmanship.
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  Just go back to Psalm 8.
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  Remember as a young boy, over on the west side where you actually see the sky so clearly,
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  looking up to the stars on a winter's night and just being amazed at it,
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  amazed at the clarity of the stars and of the moon was out,
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  just seeing the wonder of it at a very young age.
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  It spoke so powerfully.
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  There's got to be something behind that.
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  That's not just by chance.
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  There is a creator behind all of that.
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  And that's what the psalmist is saying there.
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  He's seeing all of this and he's asking,
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  who am I in the midst of this?
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  We are his workmanship.
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  We are his creation.
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  Even the wonder of all that we see in the skies,
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  we are his masterpiece too.
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  We are being made more and more into his image as we go on,
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  as he's making us imperfect as we are,
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  to one day to be perfect in glory with him.
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  So if you are saved,
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  if you know the Lord,
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  you are a testimony to the world.
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  Just like any artist would put their work on display
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  to show it to the watching world,
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  to show what can be created,
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  well, God puts us on display.
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  He uses us, imperfect as we are,
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  to be on display before others.
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  We are his workmanship.
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  And that leads us into the second thing.
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  We are his workmanship and we have a purpose
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  created in Christ Jesus for good works.
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  Going back to the programme,
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  Who Do You Think You Are?
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  And even if you look in your own life perhaps,
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  and you look back down through generations of your own family,
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  you often find that people go into a career
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  maybe thinking there's nothing behind it
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  and actually find out that there's a history in the family
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  of working in that line.
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  It may be teaching,
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  it may be seafarers,
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  it may be doctors or farmers or whatever it is,
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  fishermen,
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  all of these things,
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  and you think it's just something you've chosen.
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  But sometimes you look back and you find out
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  it's almost something that's been in the family.
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  It's come down through generations.
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  Well, what Paul tells the Ephesians Christians here is
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  that as they find their meaning,
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  their purpose in Christ,
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  they find too a path that leads them back
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  to something that has been in generations,
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  that we were made with a purpose.
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  Man's chief end is to glorify God
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  and to enjoy him forever.
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  It's been lost almost.
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  We don't see it in our life
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  until that point we are taken from death to life
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  by the grace of God
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  and then we begin to realise we have purpose.
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  We have a purpose.
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  We are God's workmanship.
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  We are his workmanship.
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  But we were created in Christ Jesus
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  for good works.
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  He gives us a life to live.
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  That's what verse 10 reminds us.
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  Now verse 9 reminds us
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  that our works are not what saves us.
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  Not a result of works
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  so that no one may boast.
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  It's not we do the works
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  so we can boast in our salvation.
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  No.
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  But it's a product of our salvation.
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  We are made for this purpose,
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  created in Christ Jesus
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  for good works.
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  And when you look at this word works,
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  it's linked to employment
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  as we would say today.
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  What is our work?
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  What is our employment?
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  Who am I in that?
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  We can say we've all got maybe different careers
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  and different works that we're involved in.
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  But yet here is our greatest work of all
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  for the good works
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  that we are created in Christ Jesus for.
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  We have our identity in him.
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  We have our purpose in him.
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  We are blessed in him
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  for this purpose of who we are.
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  Again, Paul writing to the church in Corinth
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  in 1 Corinthians 10
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  reminds us that whatever we are doing,
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  we are to do it for the glory of God.
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  Whether you eat or drink,
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  whatever you do,
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  do all to the glory of God.
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  And so whatever work,
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  whatever way we spend our time,
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  that's what it's referring to,
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  how we spend our time,
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  what we are doing with ourselves,
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  we are to be involved in good works.
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  And that doesn't just mean
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  setting a time aside
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  to do the good works that we see,
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  maybe of helping or visiting.
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  It's everything that we do.
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  When you think of putting our time
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  into compartments, if you like,
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  how much time do you spend in church?
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  You might spend two or three hours a week
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  gathered together as church in this way.
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  But how much time do you spend
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  actively working in other ways?
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  You could be in your work,
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  working a 35-hour week,
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  but then you're doing other things
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  outside of that as well,
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  involved in sports or activities,
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  involved in clubs,
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  involved in family,
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  involved in so many different things.
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  You can be 80, 90 hours a week
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  just going about your daily business,
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  and that is your work.
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  Whatever you are doing,
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  you are to do for the glory of God.
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  God.
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  Paul reminds us of that so often
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  through his letters,
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  that we see ourselves as we are in Christ,
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  and then there's a practical outworking,
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  as we heard over the weekend.
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  Ephesians is almost split in two,
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  learning what is behind our faith,
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  and then applying our faith
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  to our day-to-day lives.
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  We are to be bearing fruit
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  in every good work,
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  as Paul says to the Colossians.
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  Whatever we do,
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  we do for the glory of God.
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  Martin Luther understood what this meant
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  when he said,
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  the maid who sweeps her kitchen
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  is doing the will of God
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  just as much as the monk who prays.
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  Not because she may sing
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  a Christian hymn as she sweeps,
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  but because God loves clean floors.
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  The Christian shoemaker
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  does his Christian duty,
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  not by putting little crosses
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  on the shoes,
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  but by making good shoes.
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  Because God is interested
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  in good craftsmanship.
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  He's interested in our giving our best
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  in everything that we do.
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  And so apply that
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  to your life on a day-to-day basis.
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  Your good works
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  is not just being in church.
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  Your good works
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  is not just having your quiet time at home
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  where you read God's word and pray.
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  Your good works
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  is how you behave among others,
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  in the workplace,
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  in the school,
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  away from here,
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  everywhere we go,
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  whatever we do,
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  it's all part of our good works.
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  Who I am is seen
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  in what I do
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  and how I do it.
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  Who are we?
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  We are his workmanship
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  and we are created in Christ Jesus
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  for good works.
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  When we belong to him,
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  we honour him
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  in all that we do.
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  And the third thing that we see
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  from this verse
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  is these last words,
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  which God has prepared beforehand
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  that you should walk in them.
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  God has prepared beforehand
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  that we should walk in them.
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  There's two aspects
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  to this last part as well.
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  We think first of all
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  of the walking in them.
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  It's the last bit
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  we were thinking of at first here.
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  Walking in them.
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  Walking in them means direction.
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  It means it's our aim,
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  it's our goal
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  to keep going
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  in this way.
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  Last Wednesday,
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  we had Colin McLeod
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  preaching to us
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  on Psalm 86
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  and one of the vowsers there says,
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  teach me, Lord, your way.
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  And again,
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  it's a recurring theme
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  that you find
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  throughout Scripture.
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  Teach me, Lord,
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  your way.
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  And here we have it again.
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  Walking in the way,
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  if you like,
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  the way of good works.
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  It's almost like
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  we make sure
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  that the Lord
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  has a hold of us.
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  That we're not trying
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  to go our own way
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  and just give time to Him
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  for a short while
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  and then do our own thing.
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  That's not what it's about.
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  It's about walking with Him
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  day by day.
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  It's not a switch
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  we turn on and off.
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  It's not saying,
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  well, I'll give six months
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  to the Lord
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  and then I'll take time off
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  for myself.
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  It's not the kind of job
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  where you go away
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  and do two weeks on
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  and then you come home
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  for two weeks off.
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  That's not what being
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  a Christian is about at all.
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  It's about living
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  God's way
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  day by day.
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  He's working in us
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  because we are His workmanship.
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  He is giving us good works
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  that we should do them
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  for His glory
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  and we are to walk
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  in them.
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  We are to keep going
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  in them.
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  And again,
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  you think of how
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  God's people,
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  how are we to walk?
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  The scriptures show us
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  again and again
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  we are to walk
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  in obedience
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  to Him.
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  We are to walk
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  in faithfulness.
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  We are to walk
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  in love.
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  We are to walk
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  in holiness.
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  It goes on.
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  The list goes on.
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  But we are to walk
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  in these ways.
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  And so we are walking
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  with God.
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  But that reminds us
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  that we have a companion.
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  We're not walking
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  alone.
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  He is walking
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  with us.
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  We are still
• 23:32
  His workmanship.
• 23:34
  He doesn't leave us.
• 23:36
  He is with us.
• 23:38
  And so there is
• 23:39
  this reminder
• 23:40
  again we are not
• 23:42
  perfect.
• 23:44
  Immediately we are
• 23:45
  saved.
• 23:45
  We are not this
• 23:46
  perfect person.
• 23:47
  We don't need
• 23:47
  the Lord now.
• 23:49
  We are changed.
• 23:51
  But we are being
• 23:52
  changed
• 23:53
  all the time
• 23:55
  as we go on.
• 23:58
  There was a little
• 23:59
  boy in Sunday
• 24:00
  school
• 24:00
  misbehaving
• 24:01
  and his teacher
• 24:03
  was getting
• 24:04
  much
• 24:04
  more and more
• 24:05
  frustrated with him
• 24:07
  to the point
• 24:08
  where she got
• 24:08
  to speak to him
• 24:10
  and say
• 24:10
  why do you act
• 24:11
  like that?
• 24:13
  Do you not know
• 24:13
  who made you?
• 24:16
  And the little boy
• 24:16
  replied quite quickly
• 24:18
  yes I know
• 24:19
  God made me
• 24:20
  but he hasn't
• 24:22
  finished with me yet.
• 24:25
  It's a smart reply.
• 24:27
  We could all
• 24:28
  say that word
• 24:29
  as well.
• 24:30
  It's not an excuse
• 24:31
  but we're not
• 24:33
  finished yet.
• 24:36
  There's truth
• 24:37
  in that
• 24:38
  and that we are
• 24:38
  still a work
• 24:40
  in progress.
• 24:42
  But we have
• 24:43
  good authority
• 24:44
  in God's word
• 24:45
  that where
• 24:46
  he has began
• 24:47
  a work
• 24:49
  he will bring
• 24:50
  it to completion.
• 24:52
  We are walking
• 24:53
  in these works
• 24:55
  but we are not
• 24:56
  walking alone.
• 24:58
  We are walking
• 24:59
  with him.
• 25:01
  But then you see
• 25:02
  too
• 25:03
  that it's
• 25:04
  the works
• 25:05
  which God
• 25:05
  prepared
• 25:06
  beforehand.
• 25:09
  Prepared
• 25:10
  beforehand.
• 25:12
  And this
• 25:13
  reminds us
• 25:14
  that God
• 25:14
  has always
• 25:15
  had a plan
• 25:16
  for your life.
• 25:19
  Who are we?
• 25:21
  We are his
• 25:21
  workmanship.
• 25:23
  We are created
• 25:24
  in Christ Jesus
• 25:24
  for good works.
• 25:25
  We are to walk
• 25:26
  in them.
• 25:28
  But God
• 25:29
  has a plan
• 25:30
  in it all
• 25:31
  prepared
• 25:32
  beforehand.
• 25:34
  And again
• 25:34
  that's a theme
• 25:35
  you see
• 25:35
  throughout the
• 25:36
  scriptures
• 25:37
  over and over.
• 25:39
  You read
• 25:39
  we saw it in
• 25:40
  Psalm 139
• 25:42
  even as God
• 25:43
  was forming
• 25:44
  us in the womb
• 25:45
  he had ordained
• 25:46
  the days
• 25:46
  that were before us
• 25:47
  they were written
• 25:48
  in his book.
• 25:49
  It was all
• 25:49
  there his plan
• 25:51
  and his purpose.
• 25:54
  You think of
• 25:54
  the prophet
• 25:55
  Jeremiah
• 25:56
  in the Old
• 25:56
  Testament
• 25:57
  he was asking
• 25:58
  who am I?
• 26:02
  Well in
• 26:02
  verse 5
• 26:03
  of chapter 1
• 26:04
  the Lord
• 26:05
  is saying
• 26:05
  before I formed
• 26:06
  you in the womb
• 26:07
  I knew you.
• 26:08
  Even before
• 26:09
  you were in the womb
• 26:10
  I knew you.
• 26:11
  Before you were
• 26:12
  born
• 26:12
  I consecrated you
• 26:14
  I set you
• 26:15
  apart
• 26:15
  I appointed
• 26:16
  you a prophet
• 26:17
  to the nations.
• 26:19
  God had a plan
• 26:20
  and a purpose
• 26:21
  for Jeremiah
• 26:22
  from the very
• 26:24
  beginning.
• 26:27
  And if Jeremiah
• 26:28
  was asked
• 26:28
  who am I
• 26:29
  he could answer
• 26:29
  I have been
• 26:30
  created
• 26:31
  by God
• 26:33
  and created
• 26:34
  with a purpose.
• 26:36
  And the same
• 26:37
  is true
• 26:38
  for you and me.
• 26:40
  We are created
• 26:41
  for the works
• 26:42
  that God
• 26:42
  prepared
• 26:43
  beforehand
• 26:44
  that he has
• 26:46
  a plan
• 26:46
  and a purpose
• 26:48
  for us.
• 26:50
  Psalm 37
• 26:51
  verse 23
• 26:52
  the steps
• 26:53
  of a man
• 26:53
  are established
• 26:54
  by the Lord
• 26:56
  when he delights
• 26:57
  in his way.
• 26:59
  There's a plan
• 27:00
  and a purpose.
• 27:03
  And so we are
• 27:03
  to give ourselves
• 27:04
  over
• 27:05
  to the Lord.
• 27:08
  Proverbs
• 27:08
  the book of wisdom
• 27:09
  the heart of man
• 27:11
  plans his way
• 27:12
  but the Lord
• 27:13
  establishes
• 27:15
  his steps.
• 27:16
  The Lord
• 27:17
  has a plan
• 27:18
  and a purpose.
• 27:21
  And so our duty
• 27:22
  is to glorify him
• 27:24
  and to enjoy him
• 27:26
  in looking
• 27:27
  to him
• 27:28
  as his workmanship
• 27:30
  created in Christ
• 27:31
  Jesus for good works
• 27:33
  for the works
• 27:34
  that God
• 27:34
  prepared
• 27:35
  beforehand
• 27:36
  to walk
• 27:38
  in them.
• 27:40
  Martin Luther
• 27:41
  he said
• 27:42
  faith is a living
• 27:43
  busy
• 27:44
  active
• 27:45
  powerful thing.
• 27:46
  it is impossible
• 27:48
  for it not
• 27:49
  to do us good
• 27:50
  continually.
• 27:52
  It never asks
• 27:53
  whether good works
• 27:54
  are to be done
• 27:55
  but has done them
• 27:58
  before there is time
• 27:59
  to ask the question
• 28:01
  and it is always
• 28:03
  doing them.
• 28:05
  we don't sit
• 28:07
  here tonight
• 28:08
  asking
• 28:10
  I wonder
• 28:10
  if there is a good work
• 28:13
  for God
• 28:14
  for me
• 28:15
  to do
• 28:16
  for God.
• 28:18
  God has prepared
• 28:19
  them beforehand
• 28:20
  we
• 28:22
  are to walk
• 28:23
  in them.
• 28:25
  His word reveals
• 28:26
  to us
• 28:27
  again and again
• 28:27
  how
• 28:28
  we are to live.
• 28:30
  so we don't
• 28:31
  just sit back
• 28:32
  and say
• 28:32
  Lord
• 28:34
  what will you
• 28:35
  have me to do?
• 28:37
  Listen
• 28:37
  to him
• 28:38
  love him
• 28:40
  with all your heart
• 28:41
  serve him
• 28:43
  with all your heart
• 28:45
  love
• 28:46
  the Lord
• 28:47
  with all your heart
• 28:48
  and love your
• 28:50
  neighbour
• 28:50
  as yourself.
• 28:52
  There are so many
• 28:53
  things
• 28:53
  that we could
• 28:54
  apply
• 28:55
  to this
• 28:56
  the works
• 28:57
  that God
• 28:58
  has prepared
• 28:58
  beforehand
• 28:59
  that we are
• 29:00
  to walk in
• 29:01
  they are all
• 29:02
  before us
• 29:03
  and by faith
• 29:04
  we don't ask
• 29:05
  whether there are
• 29:05
  good works
• 29:06
  to be done
• 29:07
  we do them.
• 29:10
  We do them
• 29:11
  before there is
• 29:11
  time
• 29:12
  to ask the question
• 29:13
  and we are
• 29:14
  always
• 29:15
  doing them.
• 29:17
  So who do you
• 29:18
  think
• 29:18
  you are?
• 29:21
  How are you?
• 29:23
  You are blessed.
• 29:26
  Who are you?
• 29:27
  You are God's
• 29:29
  workmanship
• 29:30
  you are God's
• 29:31
  masterpiece
• 29:31
  created in
• 29:34
  Christ Jesus
• 29:34
  brought from
• 29:35
  death to
• 29:36
  life by his
• 29:37
  grace
• 29:37
  for good
• 29:39
  works
• 29:39
  that God
• 29:41
  has planned
• 29:42
  and had a
• 29:43
  purpose for
• 29:44
  beforehand
• 29:45
  from the very
• 29:46
  beginning of
• 29:47
  time
• 29:47
  that you
• 29:49
  should walk
• 29:49
  in them.
• 29:52
  That is who
• 29:53
  we are.
• 29:54
  The song of
• 29:55
  Solomon says
• 29:56
  I am my
• 29:57
  beloved's
• 29:58
  and my
• 29:59
  beloved
• 29:59
  is mine
• 30:00
  and when we
• 30:02
  know the
• 30:03
  Lord
• 30:03
  we know we
• 30:04
  are loved
• 30:05
  by him
• 30:05
  and we
• 30:06
  look to him
• 30:07
  as his
• 30:08
  workmanship
• 30:09
  created for
• 30:11
  good works
• 30:11
  prepared
• 30:13
  beforehand
• 30:13
  and we
• 30:15
  seek
• 30:15
  to walk
• 30:16
  in them.
• 30:18
  May God
• 30:18
  bless
• 30:19
  his word
• 30:20
  to us.
• 30:20
  We're
• 30:23
  going to
• 30:24
  conclude by
• 30:25
  singing to
• 30:26
  God's
• 30:26
  prayer.