Workmanship created in Christ Jesus
Category: Salvation & Gospel
Key Passage: Ephesians 2
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: September 22, 2025
This is just on my mind. That’s a crazy little thing, but we had the little fundraiser for the school at Chipotle’s yesterday. And we had some friends, Mark, and Tris, Tina was there, and we were talking about Mose. And Mark said, well, you know, I like the food of both of them, but Mose, the atmosphere, you know, walking to Mose, walking to Mose, you know. And I said, if you go to Mose, you know, while you’re eating, you hear about walking to Mose about a hundred times. Anybody know what I’m talking about? How many have you been to Mose? How many have you been to Mose? Come on, you’ve got to hurt here, walking to Mose. I’m not like stranded on the island somewhere, you know. That’s what they do. So I go home in the next three days I hear in my head, “Welcome to Moes, welcome to Moes,” you know. So I was almost had to say, if you found Ephesians 2, say, “Welcome to Moes,” I mean? And I was going to say, “Welcome to Moes” to them this morning. They beat me. They got me first, you know. So, welcome to Moes, amen, you know. And Ephesians chapter number two.
And before you give the verse to you, let me just say a word or two about a kind of getting us of where we are. Paul had started the church at Ephesus years earlier. Actually in Acts chapter 19, I believe, when he started it. And Ephesus is a large city. It’s known for a lot of false religion. The temple of Diana is there.
I think there was a lot of satanic activity there. And that’s where Paul, by the way, light shines brighter in darkness. Don’t let darkness keep you from shining. That’s what we’re called to do, shine. And Paul went in that city and shone the light of Jesus there. People got saved, the church got started. And this is years later.
Some will say around eight years, who knows, 18 years later, Paul is in prison for preaching the gospel, and this is the first of his prison epistles, we’ll call it, okay? And he’s writing to this church. So a couple of things, maybe he’s writing to Christians for the most part. Chapter number two of Ephesus, or Ephesians, not Ephesus. But he’s kind of rehashing, rehearsing a little bit of their salvation.
Y’all with me this morning? We’re going to get to our passage a second here. Just stick with me. There’s a couple of things I want to say, very important things. Let me just mention verse number one. He talks about their dead and trespasses and sins.
Now, some will say, see, that means you had no choice in whether to get saved or not, okay, because you’re dead in trespasses and sins. But if you look at the Bible, and you study out what the Bible teaches about death, you’ll kind of come to a better understanding than just our pinie, our finite brain, trying to say puny and penny or something the same time. I don’t know. My wife said, “You know what you said today?” And I always say, “Ain’t no telling what I said today,” you know.
But you remember whether Adam and Eve, the day that you shall eat thereof, you shall what? You shall surely. They ate of it. Did they fall over physically dead? Could they make decisions after that? Yeah, they died spiritually, but they still had decisions to make. After that, they still had Cain, Abel, Seth. Remember the prodigal son? Ran off.
And by the way, the dad in that story represents our heavenly Father. Remember the prodigal son? He comes back and Dad, Dad, only image of God of the Bible running is there and God runs to greet his prodigal sons. Amazing. And he says, “Hey, you were dead.” Let me read it for you. I miss quoting it. It’s in Luke 15:24: “For this, my son was dead, and is alive again.”
When that prodigal son was in the foreign country spending all his money, could he make decisions? Yeah. So don’t fall for that. You didn’t have any decisions. You had a decision to make. Now, God and his foreknowledge knew what decision you would make, whether you will get saved or not. But you had a decision to make free. So don’t fall for this. Nobody’s got any decision because you’re dead in your trespasses and sin. They’ve not studied the Bible out enough to find out what the Bible teaches about being dead. Come on now.
Come on, here we go, here we go. Welcome to Moes.
Let’s keep going. Just down a little bit here in this chapter. He’s talking about their salvation, and what he delivered them out of and on and on and on. And he gets down to verse 8 and 9. That’s very familiar passages. Many of you know it. If you don’t know it, just read it. Verse 8, verse number 9. If you know it, let’s quote it out loud to get it together. Here we go.
“For by grace, are you saved through faith? That not of yourself, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should both.”
Did you notice how God does it so often in the Bible? He put grace on one side and works on the other. And over and over again, he does that in the Bible, and then he tells us your works will never save you. It’s grace that saves you. He says in one place, he says in one place, basically you can’t mix the two. “For if it would be by grace, that is no more works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, there’s no more grace, otherwise grace is no more grace.” That’s Romans 11:6.
And all through the Bible, he says it’s either grace or works, you can’t mix the two. It’s not your works that saves you. It’s the grace of Jesus Christ. That’s our theme this year, by grace, by grace. Help me out, church, you know. God’s riches at Christ’s expense. Yeah. You go to heaven by grace, not by your expense, not by your works, but by Christ. He paid the debt. That’s how you get saved.
Nobody will ever, ever work their way into heaven. That’s the danger of false religion. It lets you think, well, I did what they said that I have to do to go to heaven. And you kind of… You’re a little bit satisfied. It’s a false satisfaction. No, you’ll never do enough to go to heaven. Jesus did it. It’s either grace or works. And he’s teaching that very clearly in those verses 8 and 9. Just great passage. It’s a gift. If it’s works, you go to heaven brag. No, it’s none of that. And it’s just grace.
By the way, if you’re not saved, that’s a Bible term being saved, by the way. Jesus said, you must be born again. If you’re not saved today, it’d be a great day. We would love it if you got saved today. Some of us is why we do what we do. It’s what we’re all about. Man, if we can help you get saved, if you’re not saved later on in the message, I’ll give you just a golden opportunity to get saved. But I would encourage you if you’re not saved today is the best. Today is a day of salvation.
And you can put your faith not in your works. There’s nothing we do to save you. Put your faith in the grace of God of Jesus Christ. He’ll save you. He longs to save you. He shed his blood so he can save you. And today have a great, great day to get saved. I’m not really going to preach about salvation today. I’m going to preach to the saved folks, but I want to mention that right off the bat. Hey, you’re saved by grace. Don’t let anybody add anything to it. Baptism is wonderful, but that’s a work.
And the house says, “Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.” And no, you’ll not be saved by any of your works. You’re saved by Jesus’ works. Put your faith in what Jesus did. That’s what keeps you out of hell. That’s what eternal destiny changes from hell to heaven. Death to life, John 5:24 says.
But let’s go. We’re to verse number 10 is where we’re trying to get at if the preacher would get going. Amen, you know. By the way, all that was free. That was the first message. It was free. You know, here we’re getting to the real message. All right. Verse number 10, verse number 10.
If you’re able to, would you please stand? We do this just to show the word of God respect. They did it in the book of Nehemiah. And just briefly as we read our text verse, Ephesians 2 and verse number 10 of the Bible. The Bible there says, “For we, speaking to saved folk, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Would you read verse number 10 out loud with me? Here we go, please. “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Would you pray with me that God will just make this verse come alive to you and to meet today? Would you do that? Father, you said you’ve manifested your word through preaching. So Lord, we’re asking for that today. Would you make it open? Make it known to your people. Every single person here, Lord, what all your verse there is teaching. Grow us, Lord. Speak to individuals about the good works you’ve made them to do. Guide us and empower us. And, Lord, give us faith that we can do something for you. Father, we’ll thank you. We’ll brag on you for what you do, Lord. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
We’re just going to look at some phrases from verse number 10. And I want you to notice that first little bit right there. We’re going to show it to you a second. You don’t have to worry. I didn’t make it. So if it was mine, it would be scribble. Amen. But what’s the first little phrase there in verse number 10? Help me out. Just the first old little phrase. It starts with four and ends with workmanship. Here we go, “For we are his work[manship].”
It’s talking about saved people. And it says, we are his workmanship. Now that word workmanship, some will say it means masterpiece. I don’t know if that’s exactly right or not, but my wife painted this. Yeah, yeah. And I stole it out of our house and I said, I’m going to use it today. I was surprised she didn’t get mad at me.
Now, she threw something at me, but she didn’t get, she didn’t say anything, you know. But I want to just have something to show you when God was making you. That’s what he did. He formed.
My wife, I think from a picture, if I remember right, painted this. And she could probably do it out of her head. But you know what? God didn’t, he didn’t make you like anyone else. He made you uniquely. You’re his workmanship. By the way, God didn’t say, “Oops, messed up there.”
I mean, he’s perfect. By the way, when you criticize someone for the way they’re made, you make fun of the way they talk or how short they are, tall they are, you’re criticizing God because God is the one that he painted them, if you will. We are his workmanship. By the way, when I complain, by the way, I did, I always wanted to be taller. I hung upside down with the bricks of my hands trying to get taller. It didn’t work for it. But when I complain about, you know, what I’m like, how I’m made, I’m complaining, I’m being critical of God. God did not mess up when he made you. He wanted someone just like you.
When you compare and say, “I wish I was like so-and-so.” God said, “No, I don’t want another so-and-so. I want someone just like you for his workmanship.” He took his own hands and out of his own mind and heart. He formed you and you’re exactly what God wants you to be, your makeup, your physical makeup. By the way, not just your physical makeup, but your spiritual makeup and your personality.
You say, “I wish I was more outgoing like so-and-so.” God didn’t want someone like so-and-so. They’re good enough over there on their own. God wanted someone like you.
We’re his workmanship. That’s the first part of the verse. Let’s keep going. We’re just going to go line by line here, phrase by phrase basically. And we want to get out of here before 3 p.m. Amen, you know. This next one is very interesting. I want you to notice. By the way, everything in the Bible is important, every word. That’s, by the way, yes, we’re old-fashioned. We’re using King James Version Bible.
By the way, I don’t want what someone thinks God said. I want what God said. Interesting, one of our soldiers were out yesterday. And someone said, “Well, I don’t want to hear all that.” And they said, “Okay, all right,” you know what? And they said, and I may be paraphrasing a little bit, but they said, “Well, why don’t you want to hear?” And they said, “Well, you know, there’s so many different Bibles. How do I know which one’s right?” And our soldier said, “Well, I understand what you’re saying. You’ve got to have something to the final authority.”
And our soldier said, “That’s why all we use is the King James Version Bible. We need a final authority.” The person said, “Well, you do have a final authority.” You go ahead and tell me, and they listened to the gospel. They didn’t get saved. But because we had a final authority, they listened. That’s another free one, amen. Man, I’m giving out a lot of free ones. Come on now, you know. But every word’s important. And notice how God words this. Every single word is important. Notice what it says.
We’ve already got this: “For we are his workmanship.” Then the next, the next four words. What’s the next four words?
Now, this is kind of my thinking when I read it years ago or whatnot. I thought, “Created by Christ Jesus.” That would be true. I mean, he spoke the world. John 1. It wasn’t for Jesus. There would be nothing made. Jesus was part of the creation. “Let us make man.” That was God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was involved in creation. He’s your creator of all things.
Well, that’s not what it says. It doesn’t say created by Christ Jesus.
Help me out. What does it say? Created what? It’s talking to saved people here. Let me read for you. You don’t have to turn because we’re going to read a couple passages. Let me just read them. Listen very closely to the words, all right. I’ll try to take my Tennessee hibbliness out. You can understand my words better. All right. Here we go.
First Corinthians 12, verse number 27, he says, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” Romans 12:5, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another.” Ephesians 5:30, “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.”
Ephesians gets real detailed about work. If you’re a born-again Christian, you’re in the body, you’re part of the body of Christ. It gets so particular divisions, it says, “of his flesh and of his bones.”
That’s hard for my little peon brain to wrap myself around it, but when I got saved, I was in Christ and he was in me, and I actually became part of the body of Christ. All the same, the born-again Christians of the century, you become in the body of Christ. “Created in Christ Jesus.”
Now, it’s very important. There’s many local bodies, but one day we’re all going to be with him. It’ll be one body in Christ. But friend, just think about that for a minute. You’re part of the body of Christ. Members of his flesh and of his bones, the Bible says right there, 1 Ephesians 5:30. Now, think a couple thoughts about that.
Let’s think about that. If a body tries to go two different directions at one time, what happens? Kind of like the guy. He said, “What happens when you have one foot on the boat and one foot on the dock?” The other guy said, “Split riches.” That’s what happens.
I mean, and if you get a church and you get people in there, and everybody wants to go their way and their way and their way, nothing gets accomplished. That’s why the body of Christ, we have a guideline, a manual book, if you will. It’s called the Bible. We follow the Bible, and the Spirit of God guides us through the Bible. And that brings unity to the body of Christ.
Let me say something else about this. We’re created in Christ Jesus. So I am part of the body of Christ. I better be careful what I’m doing because I represent I am part of the body of Christ. Whatever I wear, I’m causing the body of Christ to wear that; whatever I say, I’m causing the body of Christ to say that; whatever I drink, whatever I take, I’m causing that to enter into the body of Christ.
That’s very, very sacred, very scary, my friend. But that’s why over there in 1 Corinthians 3, he says, “Hey, you defile the temple of God, God shall destroy that body.” Wow. You’re part of the body of Christ. If you’re a born-again Christian, it’s not just you, it’s not just your body.
Look, when you wake up, nothing wrong, we’re saying, “Hey, Lord, what do you want me to wear today?” Because my body is part of the body of Christ. What would you like for me to put on the body of Christ? Let me say this about the body of Christ. We need every member.
I can give a little, maybe more knowledge on that than not everybody, but some, man, I tell you what, you don’t know what it means if you’re just missing a thumb and a finger. Try buttoning that button right there. Don’t take me too serious. I’m joking. I’m serious, but, you know, better laugh than cry. If I could lose my salvation, I would lose my salvation over that button right there.
Try tying your shoes without your thumb on your finger on one of your hands. And I’m saying that to say, we need every single member of the body of Christ to be involved.
Every single member, and you’re, if you’re a born and you’re Christian, you’re part of the body of Christ, we need you in this thing. We need every single little baby Adam and the body of Christ involved. We’re in a fight for good and right and the souls of mankind. And who am I to say, “I’m going to go do my own thing”? Hey, you’re part of the body of Christ and be involved. That’s what you’re saying. We’re created in Christ Jesus. You study out many passages. It bears true.
Or his workmanship. He made us. And he says we’re created in Christ Jesus. Wow. A lot of things about that, by the way, that’s why we’ll be with him forever. So should we ever be with the Lord, he said. He kind of left, he’s preparing a place, but he said, “Next time, I’m not leaving it again.” We’ll get to that some other time. Y’all are quiet out there. Come on now. Welcome to Moes, right? Let’s keep going.
What’s the next phrase here in this verse? Ephesians 2. We’re in verse number 10. We got it covered: “For we are his workmanship.” Number two, “created in Christ Jesus.” Now what’s the next three words there? “Unto, not by.”
Verse number eight, verse number nine, we already covered that, “For by grace are you saved through faith? Not of works.” You’re not saved by works. Oh, no, no, no, but once you’re saved, you’re created in Christ Jesus unto good works. When you got saved, you add value to the body of Christ. There’s something you can do in the body of Christ. He created you in Christ Jesus unto. You bring value. There’s some part of the body of Christ that needs you to function fully. You’re needed in the body of Christ.
There’s some good works you’re created in Christ Jesus unto good works. No good works don’t save you. But God is very concerned once you are saved about your works. You can’t lose your salvation. He gave that to you. But once you’re saved, Revelation, he lists the seven churches of Asia Minor. You know that, Revelation 2 and 3. Remember those? And the first thing he says to every one of those, he says, “I know thy works, I know thy works, I know thy works,” I know every single time, “I know thy works.”
Hey, God’s concerned about your works. Now, you’re not saved by your works, but you’re created in Christ Jesus unto good works. If you’re saved, God has gifted you, God’s wired you for you to do something in the body of Christ.
Let me go back just for a second here to miss it. Jesus’ body or part of it, he doesn’t want you being AWOL and being over on your own because you may be his elbow. And he can’t move his arm real good if you will.
Every single person here, you have a vital part in the body of Christ. Everybody. Look, friend, here’s what I’m getting at. Everybody, you ought to be involved in some way in the battle for the Lord. It doesn’t matter. It may be in the church where everybody sees you. It may be in your neighborhood where nobody sees you, but everybody ought to be involved in. If you’re not doing something for the Lord, hey, find something to do.
We don’t need anybody just sitting on the sidelines and criticizing everybody else. Get involved in the fight.
I went to the nursing home, had the privilege of visiting Ms. Painter’s wife this week. And, friend, if you don’t have anything to do, go to the nursing home, just read a book to them. They would like you to do that. They’re sitting there alone, and some of them, and they don’t have anybody come visit them, some of them. I went to the wrong lady at first. They kept saying, “Over there, over there.” So I wouldn’t talk to that lady, and I said, “Hey, I’ll talk to her,” you know. And then they reeled out Miss Painter. I thought, “Thanks a lot. You told me the wrong person there,” you know.
But that lady that I talked to by accident, I gave her a Baptist bread. I only had one with me. And so I kind of said, “Hey, can I take that?” And she was like, “No, I want that.” So I left it with her. I went back out of the truck. Got another one from Ms. Painter. But I’m saying there’s people there in the nursing home that would love for you to sit there and read a book to them, tell them about Jesus. Sing a song to them. You say, “I can’t sing.” They can’t hear very well anyway, so sing to them, you know. It’s true. I guarantee you go and sing there and sound horrible. They’ll love it, man. But just get involved.
You say, “Why don’t we have more people saved and more lives changed and more churches built and more things happen?” Because people are not fulfilling the thing that God created them in Christ Jesus to do. That’s the key.
Every church I’ve ever been to, I’ve been to little, bitty tiny ones, I’ve been to huge ones, thousands of people, I’ve been all of them in between. And every single one of them needs more workers. To the preacher, we need Ms. Melissa, our nursery director, she says we need more nursery workers. The one before her, my mom or somebody, I don’t know, more workers. At the beginning of the church, I was a nursery director, but I didn’t change diapers, amen.
You start a church, you got to do whatever. But I’m just saying we’ve always, we always need more workers in the nursery. Our choir, praise the Lord for our choir. They’ll practice, not will practice. They’ll practice on Sunday night before service. I’ll come in. Man, they sound so good. It’s packed out Sunday morning. We need more people in the choir. And some of that because some people aren’t showing up. Some of them are showing up are busy everywhere. But I’m just saying there’s in a church.
We always need bus drivers. Bus drivers that don’t break out windows and hit bed of poles at the gas station, whatnot. That’s kind of a couple of our, one of the men are not here that I’m talking to there, but I’m teasing a bit. But we need bus drivers. And praise your Lord for this man over there, Steve Page, he’s 80 years old. He said, “Man, I didn’t know that old.” I just hurt his feelings. I mean, you know. Hang on, Brother Page. Here you go.
No, I’m teasing with it. But that guy cut the grass around here almost every single time, besides one time, Bill Senior, Bill Jr. cut this summer around the church here. He cuts most of that over there on the new property, and he’s 80 years old.
I’m just saying it doesn’t matter what you do. It doesn’t have to be at church. It could be in your neighborhood. It could be cutting your neighbor’s grass. It could be telling them about Jesus. It could be going over there babysitting their kids and telling their kids’ Bible stories. I’m just saying, get involved some way. That’s what it’s saying, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
That is uniquely designed you, put you in the exact place you are, does some way be involved in the fight of good and right? You’re saved unto good works. He didn’t save you for to sit around and do nothing. He saved you to serve him. And if it was that, if he just saved us to go to heaven, boom, you get saved, you’re going to heaven right then at that moment, leaving us here to do something for him. And my dad used to say it this way, he would say, he always called me, “Boy,” he’s a boy, “this is a getting ready place.” And he’s right, we’re here to serve him.
Hey, you can lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, Matthew says. It’s time to serve him. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works. God may have you at your workplace. That’s a great place to witness that work. They are stuck with you eight to ten hours a day, whether they want to be or not. That’s just the truth. It’s a great place to witness. It really is. Your neighborhood, God has you there in that neighborhood for a reason. It’s not just to complain about the dog that barks next door. That may be a part of it, you know. But God’s created you in Christ Jesus unto good works.
We had a lady years ago. Years ago was at a hospital. I’m not going to say which hospital, but she was at a hospital. And about 7:38 o’clock, she called our house. I don’t know if it was a landline back then. It was back in the day. But she called. And she asked my wife specifically, she said, “Would you come up here? They are treating me horrible.”
And we were like, you know, you hear a lot of things. You know, so we listened a little bit. We thought, okay. My wife went up there. And we were shocked. They were truly, this lady had broke her femur. You know, the femur is the biggest bone of your body. Very, very painful. And they had her leg just kind of like, stick it out there, you know, and she was in major pain.
Then it was one of these rooms where they had two people in the room. The person over there, they were kind of like having a party, and the nurse were just letting people come in here, “Let’s party.” And this lady was in pain. She needed to break, and they just let the people keep coming in and partying. Somehow, man, they just, it got sadistic, really. She had a catheter in, and they would not change her bag. It was full, so she could not get into your bladder. And they would drink water in front of her, kind of swirled around and just drinking water right in front of this lady that’s in major pains. You broke a femur, and they won’t change your catheter? I’m just like, whoa.
And so my wife hit them like she hits me. Dobby. She said, “This is crazy.” I can’t remember. There’s more details than that. She was there by herself with a lady from her church. And she went, she said, “We’ve got to find the charge nurse. Let’s find the, let’s find the charge nurse.” She found the charge nurse. The only problem was the charge nurse was the nurse in that room. Oh my goodness, we’ve got to find somebody higher than that. And they found somebody higher than that. And by the way, the charge nurse came in there and they had a few words and all that. And I could have told the charge nurse, “Don’t argue with my wife.” She wouldn’t listen to me.
But eventually they put another nurse in there. Actually two nurses. Moved that lady out. There was partying back there. Having people coming in partying in the hospital. Took her out. Brought two other nurses in to take care of this lady that was a member of her church. She really was a good lady. Broke her femur. Fell down stairs. And that nurse, she was a Filipino nurse. I asked my wife again about the story.
And I think she was a Filipino nurse, and she came just as sweet as could be and fixed her leg, got it in right position, took care of the bag, and just treated her like gold. And my wife was there just trying to, you know, make sure this lady is taking care of you. You never know what’s going to happen after that happens, you know. And the little Filipino nurse, just as sweet as can be, and the other nurse coming in and out and helping the Filipino nurse.
And my wife said, “Hey, do you know anything about the Bible about Jesus? Anybody ever told you about Jesus?” And the little Filipino nurse said, “You know, I’ve been going to a Bible study. I want to know about that.” And my wife said, “Has anybody ever told you how to go to heaven?” She said, “No, I want to know about that. I’ve been trying to find out about that.” And my wife took the…
I don’t know if she had a Bible, just quoted her to the Romans Road, went through the Romans Road, told her about Jesus. The little Filipino told the other nurse coming in and out, “Hey, listen to this right here.”
And came time kind of where you get at the point, draw the net. Do you want to make a decision for Christ or not? Do you want to pray and receive him or not? And the little Filipino said, “No, I don’t want to wait. Let’s do that right now.” And she grabbed everybody’s hand, including the other nurse that was coming. It grabbed her hand. Said, “Let’s pray right now.” In fact, she told the other nurse, “You pray too.” They all prayed. Years later, and we still do wonder, did the other lady really mean it, get saved or not? We don’t know. She prayed because the Filipino nurse said, “You pray too.”
That lady got saved then. I tell that story to say, you know what? That lady went through all that pain. By the way, she was a soul winner. She was a good lady. She was so happy somebody got saved. After that lady got saved and everything got coming, she went right to sleep. She was out. But I’m saying, you know, God placed that lady in our church in that hospital, in that room for a reason. God had to get that one nurse out of that to get the other nurse in there. The Lord brought my wife alone. And God has created you unto good works also.
Every single person here you’re created in Christ Jesus unto good works. That good work might be leading someone to the Lord. That’s a wonderful good work, but it may be feeding someone. It may be clothing a child that has no clothes. It may be assisting someone who’s broke down on the side of the road. I don’t know, but God has created you. If you’re a born-again Christian, he’s created you in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Now, let’s get the last phrase here. Let’s get the last phrase here. This is amazing what it says here at the very end of this verse. Ephesians 2, verse number 10. All still with me on there, amen? Good deal. First phrase, “For we are his workmanship.” Number two, “created in Christ Jesus.” Number three, “unto good works.” Watch this. Last part of the verse: “Which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
God already has your good works planned out. You know, life has phases to it. This is the young people’s stage right here. Brother Patrick and Brother Adam, they’re trying to be young and timid. They’re not. They shouldn’t be. They’re old fogies folk, you know. But these are this stage, the teenage stage. Then there’s a young single stage, if you will, single adults.
And then you get married. You know what they say? Some were born free, but some got married, you know. Young married couples. And then middle age. And then empty nesters. And do y’all want to talk about the golden years? Brother Frank used to say the golden years aren’t so golden, you know? I hurt in places that didn’t know those there, you know, that type of thing, you know? You know, all those stages.
God has good works that He’s planned for you to do eternally. I would rather not miss all those stages of my life. The good works that God’s planned. He’s ordained. He’s made me. By the way, there’s some good works you could do that I cannot do. You can smile and shake someone’s hand and befriend them if it was me, they’d be like, “Get out of here, whatever, dude,” you know. You got just that personality.
And he’s already ordained or planned those for every stage of your life, every detail. It may be, I don’t know, but it may be the person to cross the gas pump from you just at that certain time. Maybe that’s one of the people God wants you to reach out to. But there’s good works that he’s before ordained that you should walk in them.
Yesterday, we went out, sold him, trying to just go door to door, old-fashioned, just trying to tell people about Jesus. We were praying for three people to pray, and Jesus to be their Savior, accept him as their Savior. We had two. Praise Lord for that. Yeah, we were like, “Oh, we were praying for three,” you know. And Troy Cooper, he was wanting to go with us, but he was helping someone. Praise the Lord. He’s right where God wanted him to be.
And they were moving a bed or something up to a couch, up to Madison, was it? Up to Madison. And he was helping them move it. Brother Troy Cooper is a muscle man. He picked that couch up on his back, put it in this pickup truck. And they sent, they were driving up there to this other family and whatnot, and they sent their nine-year-old boy, a good boy. Brother Troy was telling about it that we wanted to hear. And Brother Troy,
had a captive audience from here to Madison, and the parents didn’t mind. And he got to tell that boy. By the way, you know the Lord planned that. He said, “Some of the other siblings, he said, they wouldn’t have listened to me.” He said, “I’m glad they didn’t send one of those wild ones.” He said, “Wild Indian.” He said, “They want to,” you know, but God sent that one boy. There’s kind of just, he said, listening. And that boy in that truck asked Jesus to be a savior. By the way, God gave us three.
But I’m saying God had already planned that. That’s what he’s talking about. What God has before ordained that you should walk in. All of us from time to time miss some of them. I wonder how many I missed.
Praise Lord for the grace and mercy of God. He forgives and cleanses. We’re done. But what about from today on? What about those good works? By the way, don’t compare. “Well, so-and-so, they can do so much.” Who cares what they can do? God’s called them to something. God’s called you to something. Just worry, this is what God’s called me to do.
I’ve told this story many a time. Some of you, you’ll know it. It’s story number 78. Remember that story there? But the man was walking along the beach. There had been a storm, and it had washed up starfish all over the beach, just hundreds, thousands of them. And the man was walking along. He was picking those starfish up, throwing them back out. Picking up thousands of them.
Somebody saw him do it. He said, “What are you doing?” He said, “Well, if they don’t get back out in the ocean, they’re going to die.” And he said, “I’m throwing about.” He said, “You’ll never get them all up.” “What difference? Doesn’t make. You’ll never get them all.” And he picked another one up and he said, “It made a difference to that one.” You might not be able to do what so-and-so does, but friend, it makes a difference to the one you’re supposed to help.
“Created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” God has uniquely designed every single person here for you to do good works for him. I threw out a couple of things, but I probably weigh off from some of the good works God’s made you to do.
But he’s designed you for that. He’s allowed things in your life for that. Joni Erickson Tada. How many know who’s Joni Erickson Tada? Well, I like to listen to her on the radio. She’s a young lady, and she dove in and is shallower than she thought what not. She hit her head and broke her neck, paralyzed from neck down. And yet God has used her to reach.
Let me brief you a little insert. Joni Erickson Tada has said these things and we’ll be done for the day. Not for the day. We’ve got church tonight, amen. For the morning. This is what she said. She said, “What exactly was God thinking when he wrote a diving accident into the script for my life? To be sure, he knew it would transform me and give me a greater love for Jesus. But God saw far beyond that. He was seeing millions of others with disabilities. My broken neck was the beginning of God’s greatest use of my life. It launched his outstanding plan to reach thousands of people with disabilities with his love. So when I broke my neck, yes, it was terrible, but God had a purpose. It was the 1.3 billion disabled people in the world who need Christ. Because a soul is far more valuable than walking, I am out to win them to his side.”
She’s saying God’s got some good works that he’s planned for me to do, and I’m going to do my best to do.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Our heads are bowed. Our eyes are closed. I’m going to ask you four questions. Just right there where you said, four questions.
Number one, you’re there. You say, “Lord, would you help me to do the good works you’ve made me to do?” You said, “That’s my heart. That’s my prayer.” Lord, would you help me to do the good works that you’ve made and created and planned for me? That’s you. That’s my heart, preacher. Lord, help me in that. Would you slip your hand up? Lord, help me to do those good works. Many, many hands. God bless you. Thank you for letting the Lord work in your hearts. Thank you so very much. You can put your hands down.
Maybe you hear this morning, and you say, “You know, there’s a good work I think God wants me to do, but I just got tired. And I’ve quit.” Oh, by the way, all of us are there from time to time. I sure have been. But there’s some things God spoke to my heart about this morning. I want to get back in there doing those good works. There’s some things I’ve stopped. I’m going to get back at doing that good work. I believe he’s made me, created me in Christ. He used to do those good works. I’m going to get back in there, doing those good works. I’m going to get back in there. God bless you. God bless you. Oh, yeah.
All of us are there from time to time. Me too. Me too. Good, good. Anybody else, I’ve stopped some things. I need to get back there. God bless you. God bless you. Good. Good. God bless you. Good. Good. Good. Wonderful. Thank you for letting the Lord work in your heart. Thank you so much. You can put your hands down. Just try to get us to make some decisions for Christ. That’s all.
Number three, two more questions. You hear and you say, “Lord, here am I. Guide me. I’m going to let you guide me. I’m going to let you lead me. I’m going to be obedient.” But I’m presenting myself to you. I’m signing up again. Lord, here am I. Here am I. Here am I. A little similar to number one, but a little different, a little different. I’m presenting myself to you. Here am I, Lord. Guide me. I want to follow you. I want to every step of the way. Lord, here am I. Here am I. Here am I. That’s my prayer and that that’s my that’s my heart. Lord, here am I. That’s you this morning. You slip your hand up. Here am I, Lord. Use me in these good works. Here am I, Lord. Here am I, Lord. Here am I. God bless you. God bless you. Wonderful, wonderful one. That’s the key. Keep presenting yourself. That’s the one God uses, not the talented one. Oh, no, the ones that keeps presenting themselves just day and “Here am I, here am I, here am I.” That’s the ones he uses. Thank you so very, very much and put your hand down.
You’re here this morning, the beginning of the message. We’ve talked about being saved. If you’re not saved, we love you. More importantly, God loves you. Jesus, he shed his blood. He invites you into the family. We didn’t get to cover it all, but he’ll make you a part of the body of Christ. He’ll regenerate you. You’re a new man in Christ.
“Preacher, I need to get saved. I’ve never put my faith in Jesus alone to save me. I need to call on Him to be my Savior.” I’ve asked you this morning, heads bowed and eyes closed. “Preacher, I need to get saved. I’m going to do this. I’m going to lead you to pray.” The Bible says, “Believe in your heart, confess with your mouth.” Say, “Preacher, I’ve never accepted Jesus as my Savior. Put my faith in him. I know I’m a sinner. I understand there’s a penalty, and I believe Jesus died to pay for that penalty, he rose again three days later. I want to put my faith in Christ right now. The grace, not my work, but in the grace of God.” That’s you. Right there where you said, maybe online, wherever you are, would you call on him right now?
Something like this: “Dear Jesus, be merciful to me a sinner. I know I can never be good enough to earn my way to heaven. Jesus, I’m asking you, I’m trusting fully in you. You save me by your grace. Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”
Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. You say, “I never have, but I just call on Jesus to be my personal Savior.” If that’s you, just lift your hand if anybody like it. Just flip it up, just slip it up.
You’re online. Let us know what’s in the Bible to you. We want to be a help to you. Let’s all stand, if you would, please. Let’s all stand. Be a great, great morning just to hear, “My Lord, use me to do these good works. Have me not to miss them.” Maybe he can’t get the past cleared out. All right, Lord, forgive me. I’m not going to get back in there, but you do business with God. If God spoke to your heart, would you do business with him? You pray. If God’s leading, you come to the old-fashioned altar.
Father, thank you that you add value to our life. Because it’s meaningful. Our lives matter. Thank you, Lord. You’ve created us in Christ Jesus unto good works. Help us to fulfill those works you’ve made us to do. Bless this time, Lord, hear our prayers as we present ourselves to you. In Jesus, we pray, amen.
Would you come if the Lord’s leading you come? You come. Have his guide to you. Let’s just present ourselves to Him. “Lord, what would you have me do? Here am I, Lord, use me.” Maybe he’s calling you to something specific. Maybe it’s going to forgive someone so they don’t deserve it, but I didn’t deserve his forgiveness. You didn’t deserve his forgiveness when he forgave you. Maybe it’s calling you to pray. Prayer is so key. Maybe the greatest thing you can do for someone is to pray for them. I’m going to pray for Brother Glyn in the nursing home rehab center. I’m going to pray for Ms. Painter in the nursing home, whatever may be. I’m going to pray for my neighbor, my loved one.
He’ll take some groceries to someone. We’ll send a card to someone. I’m trying to encourage that work and a coworker. Good works which he had before ordained that we should walk in them.
Me, every single person, you have value to the kingdom of God. So much value. One last story, promise you. Promise you. Back in the day, they would pray for people to be saved. Man came to revival. Everybody had been praying for him. And invitation time, somebody went and talked to him. You know how they did back in the day. They did get saved. Preacher went back and talked about when he got saved. A mentally challenged man, as only a mentally challenged man could do, went back and said, “Won’t you get saved so he don’t go to hell?” And I broke him. Hey, don’t you know God prepared that mentally handicapped man to do that? You better believe. All of us, every single person, God’s got good works. Pray in Jesus to do unto those good works.
Glad you’re here this morning. I’m going to quit. I said it was going to quit. Well, last time, walking to Moes. Thank you for being here this morning. And God’s house, God’s very proud of you being in his house right where we want you to be. And we’re honored to have you today also.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂Workmanship created in Christ Jesus＂- Sunday AM 09⧸21⧸2025 [VGWe5CncZfU]