Paul Carrington's sermon on the Second London Baptist Confession, Chapter 16, explores the doctrine of good works and their role in salvation. He emphasizes that salvation is entirely by grace and cannot be earned through good works, referencing Ephesians 2:8-10. Carrington explains that while good works do not contribute to salvation, they are a result of God's work in us and are preordained for believers to walk in. He critiques the concept of 'super-arrogation,' or doing more than God requires, as a misunderstanding of grace. The sermon distinguishes between the works of regenerate and unregenerate individuals, asserting that good works by the unsaved do not merit favor with God. Carrington concludes by encouraging believers to engage in good works out of gratitude for salvation, not as a means to earn it, and to focus on glorifying God in all they do.

Well this evening we continue our walk through the Second London Baptist Confession. We're in the second half of chapter 16 which deals with the doctrine of good works. And so far, you know, through the second London Baptist confession, the authors have rightfully been very, very careful to really start off and set the parameters of salvation. And they started off speaking to us of God works for us, right? The work that God has done for us and we had chapters like Christ the mediator we talked about things like effectual calling and then from there they went from God's work for us to God's work in us like justification and adoption and and repentance and as a result of God's work in us we become something new and that really is the most important thing to remember in all of this is not to run ahead to do God's work but that God first does a work for us in us and then he does a work through us.

And so that's really where we're going to be spending our time. And I was doing some studying just looking at one particular series of verses. When you look at the the book of Ephesians, it's an amazing, amazing book. And one of the three verses in chapter 2 dealing with verses 8 to 10 really kind of encapsulate the doctrine of salvation and really really do a great job of clarifying what a lot of people have missed throughout the course of of history and it's Ephesians 2 verses 8 to 9 where it really just deals with the abundant grace by which salvation comes and it makes it very very clear there's no uncertain terms that salvation is really all of grace and this is what it says it says for great for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

He makes it very, very clear, categorically clear, that it's not of works, lest any man should boast. But then the Verse continues in verse 10. It says this For we are his workmanship Created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in the night. I was listening to a sermon by by Steve Lawson who does an amazing job just going through this particular part here dealing with good works and you know he makes a really good point when he says for we are his workmanship and if you look at the Greek word for workmanship it's amazing to think of this particular thing right when you hear this word you're gonna recognize the actual English equivalent and what that word is is poema so we are his poema we are his workmanship It's this idea of us being God's Masterpiece or God's handy work and you've got to ask yourself the question did ever a did ever an artist work with worse raw materials Than God had to work with not only you know in the beginning it says in the beginning God created But that was out of out of nothing ex nihilo, but when he comes to us he's dealing with this kind of roiling mass of sin and selfishness and He takes this raw material and turns it into a work of art.

And you could look at me and I could look at you and you could say, well, you're not much to look at. There's not much to you when I look at you or when you look at me. And oftentimes when I'm at home and one of our females in the household are having a bad hair day I'll I'll point to myself and say like it could be significantly worse We're we're not much to look at but we are his workmanship and the idea being is that there is something when God takes a life that's been wrecked by sin and he begins to make that life whole again he justifies he he adopts you it's this beautiful idea you are God's poem but he doesn't stop there He says created in Christ Jesus for good works and this idea this this word air gone is Where we get our words like energy we are created in Christ Jesus for good works We're to be be filled with exerting ourselves. It's not something that's easy It's not something that just comes naturally But it requires of us and so this word good works is really speaking to a body of works It's not these you know in the world you have this concept of random acts of kindness you know do this here and there it's kind of sporadic but but as a Christian it's something altogether different and then this part was really what got me it says which God prepared beforehand That we should walk in them and this this word beforehand really speaks of preordained just as you've been Foreordained or just as you've been predestinated to be saved the works that you do God has actually prepared beforehand that you should walk in them then I should walk in them and if you think of every single organ in the body Having a purpose should not every saint in the body of Christ have a purpose It should be something that excites us and fills us with a sense of destiny that we're actually not just here to sit, but we're here to be about the Master's work.

And so that particular verse, three verses, does a great job of highlighting and clarifying the Gospel. And so while the mass of humanity is resting on good works. You know, just this past Friday night we went out into Wake Forest and you talk to people who have a very, very good opinion of themselves. Almost all of the people you speak to has a sense that I'm a fairly good person and they believe the most detrimental lie that a man or woman can believe. But I'm pretty good.

The the universal heresy that good works and intentions can make us acceptable to God and so man's totally inverted the order of things. It's this view that good works lead to grace or lead to favor with God as though there's anything in me that can make God make me acceptable to God. It's as though God is extending his hand of mercy and men are saying don't worry about that God I've got it I got it covered don't bother yourself I can make my way to you and you know the other day we were we were at home and we went to the hardware store and we're unloading these 50 pound bags of soil and that's what Paul and Titus decided to they said dad we're gonna take this bag and bring it into the into the garage so I let them struggle with it even if I left them even till now they'd still be struggling five days later but the idea is it's totally impossible totally impossible to make our way to God and yet man in his in his pride has such a low view of God and exalted view of himself that he thinks he can do that.

Well, we that claim and name the name of Christ have a different view of salvation entirely and it's so wonderful to realize that it's not by our actions that we're saved, but we live purposeful lives. We live lives glorifying God, and we're saved for this reason. We're not just saved to gain immunity from hell or to gain inheritance in heaven, but we're saved for a purpose even right now by doing good that we can bring glory to God. And that can often be missed. We can glorify in that we were one day going to be with him, but there's a time in between from the time of salvation into that time that should be filled with good works, not works that make us right with God, but works that glorify His wonderful name.

And so one of the things we never want to do is pit justification against good works as though somehow they're entirely opposite And they should never be like that But but what we want to do is not only know the right things but also do the right things and when we look in In the Bible, right? We look at something like Hebrews 11 we see this great cloud of witnesses We we look at the book of James and how James identified himself as a bond servant We look at even our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who, how does Isaiah refer to him? He calls him the servant, my servant, my servant. About four or five times in Isaiah, Jesus is referred to as a servant. He does the greatest work, of course, that anyone could ever do in dying for the sins of many, but he is the author and the finisher of our faith.

And no man gets to heaven. And can you imagine someone like Moses saying, you know, I wish I could have had a little bit more of those treasures in Egypt. It doesn't happen that way, but when we realize what we're dealing with in terms of eternity, when we're dealing with being in unison, in communion with God forever, It sets our heart at liberty and we want to do good works It's a joy it becomes our obedience because even Jesus himself said as hard as this Christian life can be My yoke is easy and my burden is light the heart hardest heaviest yoke to bear is that of trying? To make yourself right with God without the grace of God. It's an absolute burden.

I can't imagine how men can even make it through. But in Christ, remember this, this is from Matthew Henry, he says this, in Christ there are no dead and sapless branches. Faith is not an idle grace. Wherever it is, it brings forth fruit in works." And so we get to paragraph four of this chapter, and this this particular This particular paragraph deals with the limits that we find in good works their inability To save and to make us right and we're gonna deal with a word here that many of us probably have never heard before But it says this in this paragraph They who in their obedience attain to the highest height which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to superarrogate and to do more than God requires, as that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do. And so we'll deal with this particular word here, superarrogate, which is really the definition of this is to do more than what is commanded, to go beyond the call of duty.

It's this idea of being super meritorious. It's almost like doing additional homework. The teacher gives you this amount of homework to do, this amount to accomplish, but you say, I'm going to go above and beyond and somehow think that you're going to gain merit and influence your position with the teacher or in this case influence your position with God and so acts of super-arrogation would be things like refraining from from marriage like in first Corinthians 7 where you know Paul makes a statement and then you run with it and you become a monk or a priest or something like that as a means of going above and beyond the call of duty. It's things like martyrdom or perhaps the the biggest treasure trove of super-arrogation would be the Virgin Mary as they refer to in Catholicism, which has been, it's kind of like the jackpot, you know, it's been drawn on over the centuries as people try to do and make withdrawals from her account And this is really how it works. It's amazing and we've been dealing with this idea of Penance we've been dealing with indulgences and all these false doctrines because you remember that the second London Baptist confession was written in a particular time Where a lot of heresy was running and had run for centuries and they were putting a stop they were Saying what the word of God said and they had to deal with these particular things Well, what if Catholicism do it it used the the sale of indulgences to bankroll Massive projects something like st.

Peter's Basilica or some other Cathedral or something like that to fill their coffers and so what would happen is Saints that live super holy lives, you know they had more spiritual rewards than needed. Again, this is all false, right, but this is what they would teach. Well, that person lived such a holy life, they did more than what was required, and so their rewards are actually in surplus in their bank account in heaven. It was this idea, and they had this this doctrine called the Treasury of Merit and What would happen of course for a modest fee is that you could go to the Pope or whoever was selling those indulgences and The righteousness of that particular person could be drawn on for you or for someone in purgatory to perhaps shorten their stay. And again, another false doctrine.

But all of this stuff they were teaching. And so it was basically you would draw on someone else's account and credit it to the sinner's account as though that's even possible. Right? It's a total false doctrine. And of course you find the same fatal mistake and error in Islam as well.

Islam, another false religion, you know, requires that a person does pray five times a day in a kind of five to ten minute period of time you say a certain amount of rote prayers But you can do something called knaffle which is optional prayer Which is above and beyond and this basically goes to your account it helps one kind of attain a better position in the afterlife right this is how false teachings work it really rests heavily on man and his own ability well what the scripture teaches of course flies entirely in the face of all of what is written here, what the Catholics tried to put forward in terms of works of super-arrogation. And Luke 17 verse 10 says this very clearly, the words of our Lord and Savior, so likewise, When you have done all those things which are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do. There's no such thing as being able to go above and beyond the call of duty. Jesus Christ, He didn't come in case you couldn't save yourself, but He came because we couldn't save ourselves.

And this idea of super-arrogation really overthrew the whole gospel and terribly diminished this whole concept of good works. And so even when you look at something like Romans chapters one to three right what the Apostle Paul does he totally Dismantles any any remnant of man's righteousness as though there was anything in man whatsoever And and we read things like for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God or other things where he says that there is none righteous No, not one that's what the Bible teaches There's no such such thing and so that's what the authors in this particular chapter are trying to do and so it goes on It says so far from being able to superarrogate and to do more than God requires, as that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do. And if you think of this like Mount Everest, you know, Mount Everest is the highest point on earth. It wasn't even summited until 1953 when Sir Edmund Hillary, he climbed that mountain. And it is high.

It's something like 30, 000 feet above sea level, five and a half miles vertical, going up to the very top. And you think of a person like like Nicodemus who was an old man who had spent his whole life spiritually climbing up Mount Everest trying to get to the top trying to do good things he was a teacher in Israel he was someone who who was faithful at least in what he thought was right, and trying to make himself right before God. And what does the Lord Jesus do? He dismantles it all together and says, basically you've got to go back to the bottom. You've got to be born again, or you will never see life.

While man tries to to climb Mount Everest spiritually speaking and get to the top, God says that is not the way. And so two questions as a man gets to the very top of Mount Everest, five and a half miles up, He stands there, he plants the flag, he could even be there with his arms folded with a great sense of accomplishment. But here's a question for him. Now that you're five and a half miles up, how much closer to the Sun are you than those that are down at sea level? If the Sun is 93 million miles away and you're five and a half miles above your fellow man, how close are you to the Sun?

See, when the standards are man-to-man, you might think of yourself fairly highly, but when it's man-to-God, it's altogether different. And then the other question is, what about those things by the way that you left down at the bottom of the mountain? See that's what it says here, you fall short of much which in duty they were bound to do, the very things that God asked them to do they didn't even do in their mad dash up the mountain to get there and so very very enlightening for us to understand that no man goes above and beyond and so in paragraph 5 It continues with this discussion of the limitation of man's ability. And I'll just read the first part down to former sins. It says this, We cannot buy our best works merit pardon of sin or eternal life at the hand of God by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come and the infinite distance that is between us and God whom by them We can neither profit nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins And so this is really a reality check again thinking of this idea of this concept of Mount Everest right this idea nothing you can do can warrant eternal life if you think of the great chasm or disproportion between yourself and God between God's works and yours your works it should introduce us to humility you know it was about two weeks ago that the oldest person in history, oldest person in the world, not in history, but the oldest person in the world died.

Her name was Emma Murano in Italy and she died at 117 years old and everyone is, you know, amazed and it is an amazing thing 117 she was born at the tail end of the 1800s lived through the 1900s into the 21st century it's it's quite something and this is what the Guinness Book of Records says it says this she joined our celebrated Hall of Fame with her amazing achievement when she was announced in 2016 as the oldest living female and was officially confirmed as the last person to be born in the 1800s now that's a hundred and seventeen years but what does God say about our life? He says it's as a vapor. Our lives are as a vapor. And a lot of times again we need to understand when we're comparing our righteousness to God's. How does that ever compare?

You know, I was doing some calculations earlier this morning, or this afternoon, and if you look at someone like Gan, who's here, 94 years old, but compare it to Methuselah. You know what his age is, equivalent-wise? Seven and a half. Seven and a half in comparison to another man. Don't even talk about eternity, but compared to just a man who lived thousands of years ago, man in his ability is very, very minimal.

In fact, it's zero, or ability to do anything that is pleasing to God is nil But we had this view that we are credit score is pretty good with God You know this idea that I've got a pretty good credit score surely I can draw on my account That's really what happens when you talk to people in the street. When you stand before God, what would you say? Well, I hope my good works kind of outweigh my bad. They take this crazy wager that no matter who you're talking to of what religion, that is the wager. That my good will outweigh my bad and that's of course entirely contrary to the gospel the Lord himself talks about this idea of the unprofit you know the unforgiving servant where the man owned 10, 000 talents in other words your debt is unpayable And when Jesus even when he when he began to his ministry it says in John chapter 1 many Believed in him, but then it ends with one of the most curious statements almost terrifying in a way John chapter 2 I'm sorry, but it says but Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men.

He knew what was in man. It's a pretty revealing statement. What is in man? Not nothing good. Paul says, I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwells no good thing.

And so the more we see our great disproportion, the better. The more we feel quote the infinite distance that is between us and God, the better. Then we stop trying to profit Him and satisfying our debt ourselves. The only provision God has made for man to be in communion with him is through the covenant of grace, not through the covenant of works. And when we've done all that we can, we have done but our duty and our unprofitable servants.

We should be striving to serve him but only as a result of what Christ has done in our lives and so this next section the bottom part deals with this this particular area of Because as they are good they put the works That is they proceed from his spirit and as they are wrought by us They are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment So who did from where it is good works proceed even when we have good works They don't proceed from us, but he's saying that they proceed from the Holy Spirit. So glory never belongs to us, it belongs to God. They're wrought by us, but even when they're wrought by us, they're defiled. And they're mixed with weakness, they're imperfect. And so this is the problem, This is the issue.

It's in one way a relief because it's all glory goes to the to the spirit But on the other side, it's recognition that even when we do our best it's it's an admixture There's distortion and problems with it. And so our glory really evaporates altogether and this is what Psalm 143 says, it says, do not enter into judgment with your servant for in your sight no one living is righteous. And then we get to paragraph chapter, paragraph 6 and this is the second to last one. And this deals with the works of regenerate saints. So they do a lot of work of basically making clear that you cannot make yourself right with God.

You cannot make yourself right with God by doing works. And yet it says this, Yet not withstanding the persons of believers, that's us who know the Lord, being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him. Not as though they were in this life wholly unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight, but that he looked upon them in his Son and is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections." And so this first line, yet notwithstanding, what a blessed word that is. Even though our works are mixed and they're not perfect, they're not acceptable on their own, Because we're accepted by God through Christ our works are also accepted By God through Christ As well it is all of grace and this is what Ephesians 1 says and if you think of what I said earlier How we ourselves have been predestined right our works have also been predestined as well having predestined us to adoption as sons By Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us Accepted in the beloved and so this is the idea that my son or my daughter could paint me a picture I can get have a one-year-old or two-year-old or five-year-old and they can paint me a picture and I will put it on the wall Not because it's so beautiful not because it's a Monet or some sort of you know work of art that would hang in a museum But because because of who it was that was performing it That's my son or my daughter and therefore I will take their effort even though it's imperfect and all it's look at that it's outside the lines and all that stuff but I put it up on the wall because of who they are Before me and it's almost the same thing would I bought it at a store?

Probably not you know but the idea is that I I take it and I put it up on that wall And I remember we were talking about it the other day at home How years ago when Melinda and my wife started teaching our girls how to cook? I know seven or eight years old and they were beginning in the kitchen, and they would make these biscuits, and they would get going, and they'd make these biscuits, and you know what, we'd have them every Saturday morning, but they were not the, you know, the tastiest biscuits, but because they were putting the effort and I wake up in the morning And you'd smell these but they get up early and have these things baking they didn't taste all together that great But because of who it was That was doing the effort putting forth the effort it was such a blessing Now they just discovered about a month ago that it wasn't the, you know, a chef's delight but they did their best and it was their effort that did it. And you know, I as a father said, you know what, that's wonderful. Thank you for doing that.

I didn't lie. I appreciated the effort that they were putting in to make that for us and to honor us. And so it goes on to say, not as though they or their works were in this life holy, unblemable, and unreprovable in God's sight, But that he looked upon them in his son and is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere although accompanied With many weaknesses and imperfections and so whose merit does God accept I? Heard a line one time and he the man said God accepts only one person and Those that are in him Jesus Christ God doesn't accept our works But only our works done in Christ and so that's really important, but there's this aspect of sincerity That's also important because good works have to proceed from the heart as well. It's not a checkbox.

We're not making a transaction. God, if I do this, will you do this? But it's a desire to glorify God from the heart. Again, mixed with all sorts of motives and problems and admixture and all this stuff is there. But there's an element where I want to glorify God.

I want to do this to worship Him. And as feeble as they are, my desire is to do right before Him. And so On the basis of Christ's work, our works, our good works are received. And it says this in Matthew, isn't this amazing? That we do works that he has enabled us to do, that he has foreordained for us to do.

He does all of that. And then what does he say at the end of it all? Well done. Good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things.

Think about that in this life. The most responsibility you can ever be given in comparison is just a few things in comparison to what we have waiting I will make you ruler over many things enter in to the joys of the Lord and because our works are seen by God In Christ, this is what it says in Hebrews for God is not unjust God Enabled us. He gave us the works to do, He's working in us, but then this is what it says. So this should cause us to be so worshipful in our attitude toward God. It says this, for God is not unjust.

To forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward his name in that you have ministered to the saints and do Minister and so we get to the final The final paragraph this is really paragraph 7 deals with the works of unregenerate man men that do not know God and they make it very clear about how these works. So what happens? We understand our works in chapter in paragraph 6. How about the man that doesn't know God? Suppose he goes above and beyond and does more than what I've ever done outwardly.

What about his works? How does God treat that? And this is an important paragraph because so many people, if you were to say Mother Teresa or pick another saint of the 20th century Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, if you were to even say that person wasn't saved because they didn't put their faith in Christ That would be tantamount to committing secular Blasphemy because these people have such a high regard for these quote-unquote saints of the 20th century, these humanitarians. But what this paragraph says is this, works done by unregenerate men although for the matter of them may be things which God commands And of good use both to themselves and others yet because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith Nor done in a right manner according to the word nor to a right end the glory of God They are therefore sinful and cannot please God nor make a man meet to receive grace from God, and yet their neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing to God." So this first phrase really deals with the fact that man, though he's depraved, he doesn't always act as depraved as he could be right when we went through the book of S of Ezra we saw a man like Cyrus we saw a man like artist sirxes you see other men throughout the Bible Doing quote-unquote good things at times to help God's people We saw if you look in Kings, you see a man like Jehu who destroyed Baal from Israel.

I mean he wiped out Baal from Israel but did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam and yet this is what God says, and the Lord said to Jehu, because you have done well in doing what is right in my sight and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in my heart your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." So he did a good thing. Now was he saved? Was it meritorious? No, he didn't get saved but God said because you did this good thing, here's a reward for that. Your sons will sit on the throne for to the third and fourth generation.

But even if he does specifically what God commands, It is not accepted by God in the sense of being meritorious. That's really important. A man, and you see this all the time, right? A man can take the principles in the book of Proverbs. You see this in business, and he begins to apply the book of Proverbs to business.

And lo and behold, what happens? His business can begin to prosper because he's implementing God's Word even though he has no faith in God and things happen, but it's not that he at the end of the day will merit any life or anything like that at all. And so a lot of times what we have in our modern day, especially I don't know where you work, but at my company There's all this focus on philanthropic effort this idea of of going and pouring yourself out and doing what you can to better humanity And really think that you're doing God's work in the earth without any trust in God Because God says this this is what Hebrews 11 says but without faith It is impossible not difficult not hard not you know it may not work out. It is impossible To please God You're kept outside the bounds and there's no entrance to God except by faith. And just as the righteous are not excused from neglecting duties, neither are the unrighteous.

And so Spurgeon makes this comment here, I thought it was so so well said and you think about I said earlier this Mount Everest of works that men try to do to build Up to get above their fellow man or to try to make themselves Acceptable to God listen to what Spurgeon says He says bring me a man who all his life long has been spending his health and strength for his fellow creatures. Fetch me some public officer who has fully discharged his trust, who has labored night and day, even to the wearing down of his constitution, because he believed that England expected every man to do his duty and he wished to do it. Bring me that man, let me see all his charitable works, let me witness the most lavish benevolence, the most profuse bounty. Tell me that he has always with a consistent motive labored for his country and then if he cannot answer this question, dost thou believe in the Son of God? I shall be bound in all honesty to tell him that he has done not a solitary good work in all his life so far as God is concerned.

I tell you, you have toiled for naught, you have only sown the wind, and likely enough you will reap the whirlwind. God owes you nothing. You have not lived to his honor. You must honestly confess that you have not performed a single action with a desire to please him. You have labored to please yourself.

That has been the highest motive you have ever had." And so in conclusion, we see all these different things that works cannot make us acceptable to God and yet we're given works to do and to go so far as to say a man like we'll see in James who says he has faith and doesn't have any accompanying works doesn't have faith. There's a requirement in the sense that we're here to glorify God but not to be saved by those works but doesn't that make you glad that you're you're standing not by your good works? I mean I feel such a relief that it's not by my works that somehow I merit life because I wouldn't But that you're accepted by God Because of who Christ is and what he's done for us and that to me encourages me to want to put my hand to the plow to want to Glorify him because of how good and how merciful he is and one thing we should all get from this chapter Is this is that you were not saved to sit a year ago? Mike Davenport give a sermon on you remember that That sermon on the body I think it was from first Corinthians 12 and how all the body members working together for the good of the body, every single member has a part to play, some obscure, some more in the forefront, but Every one of them has a part to play.

Are you zealous? Are you on fire? Are you fervent to do good works, to glorify your Father who is in heaven? Not to trumpet your works, not to put yourself forward, but to do works to glorify God and I know there are many in this church that do things that are below the radar and they're wonderful works and and God knows exactly what those things are But remember this that before the foundation of the world He prepared these things for you to walk in them. Be a person who's looking every day.

That should fill us with purpose. Tomorrow is Monday. Lord, what works are there for me to put my hand to to glorify you? What is it Lord? If you're a stay-at-home mom or you're going on a mission trip, right?

There's works that God has given for each of us to do. And make sure, this is very important, that you are not just a paper Christian, but in your heart you're a Pelagian. Somehow you can make yourself right with God and you're not so bad as you're made out to be in the scriptures. One of the things I would just leave us with to think about is as parents, if you've got children, make sure you're preaching Christ to them because in our circles, what's the easiest thing to do? It's to conform outwardly, memorize Scripture, you know, sing the songs, learn to pray outward, all of these things, and yet not have Christ beating in their hearts.

May that be something we never ever put the cart before the horse, put works in our teaching, in our day to day. It's so easy to get conformity rather than conversion of the heart, the change of the heart. That is what God is after. So remember what God has done. He's done things for us and in us so that he can work through us.

Let's pray. Father, we give you praise and thanks. Lord, you didn't have to use us. Lord, in fact, when you do use us, It's such a feeble instrument that you're using, Lord, whether to preach or to serve or to do whatever it is that you have for us. And yet to think, Lord, that because of Christ, that not only we but our works are accepted in your sight.

Lord, we thank you. What can we say to these things, Lord? How gracious, how kind, Lord, and we look forward to that day to hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joys of your Lord. Lord, we look to enter into communion with you. Help us, we pray.

Help us as we have breath now to be a people spending ourselves zealous for good works, walking in those things that you've prepared beforehand for us to do. Lord, we do Thank you and honor your name. Amen