Grace For the Unworthy (Joel Giesbrecht)

One year from now, you'll wish you began today.

Either you change or your life stays the same.

At some point, pain becomes the purpose.

Nobody cares. Work harder, start today.

Get up, rise and grind. Be relentless.

Are you feeling motivated yet? These are all common sayings or

phrases that get repeated in many motivational videos.

You you see these videos online, whether it's fitness, business,

or self improvement. A lot of them, they share the

same structure or these same tropes.

If you've watched any of these videos, you'll probably quickly

pick up on the similarities. They'll start with an emotional

hook and dramatic music and then they introduce the problem,

something that's wrong with modern people.

Then comes the pivot, the identity change.

You'll hear phrases like winners don't do what winners do what

losers won't. The then following there's a

montage of people running, working late, early sunrises.

And there comes the call to responsibility and

self-reliance. This lone wolf mentality, alone

in the gym, alone studying, alone suffering.

And then finally, it's a call to action, something more to do.

And to be honest, it's a pretty good structure.

I watched a few of these videos for examples, and by the end of

it I was amped up to start living my best life.

Now, not really. But in honesty, I'm not hating

on motivational videos. I think they have their place.

But a better question is why do they work or why don't they

work? I think part of the reason that

they do work is because most of the good advice that they give,

they borrow from scripture. But even beyond that, these

videos attempt to make you feel worthy of something that you are

not. In my current condition, I am

not worthy to win a marathon race, but after watching a few

motivational videos, I sure feel like I am.

Which therefore I believe it. There lies attention.

Many of these videos contain a genuinely good idea and like I

mentioned, even things you'll find in Scripture like the

importance of discipline, responsibility, and

perseverance. But many of these videos, they

also move toward a performance based identity or an obsession

with personal achievements or viewing rest as a weakness.

And these are all things that the Bible speaks against.

As Christians, we're not always going to feel motivated.

And if we go online, the overwhelming attitude of these

videos seem to be they seem to give the message that real

Christians, they're always crushing it spiritually.

But as a Christian, you'll know that's not the case.

There are times of doubt and fear.

And in particular, there are times when you simply feel

unworthy to be saved by Jesus. Times when you wonder, why would

Jesus save me? If you will, please open your

Bibles to Ephesians chapter 3. What I don't want to do this

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

morning is give a motivational speech on why you're good

enough. I don't think that alone is

sufficient, but what I do want to do is I want to look at the

1st 13 verses of chapter 3 to attempt to answer the question,

what do we do when we feel unworthy?

And so with that as our backdrop, let's read Ephesians

Ephesians 3:1–13

chapter 3 verse 1 to 13. For this reason, I, Paul, a

prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming

that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that

was given to me for you, How the mystery was made known to me by

revelation, as I have written briefly.

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the

mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men

and other generations, as it has now been revealed to His holy

apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs,

members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in

Christ Jesus. Through the gospel of this

gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's

grace, which was given to me by the working of His power to me,

though I am the very least of all the Saints.

This grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable

riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the

plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all

things, so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of

God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities and

the heavenly places. This was according to the

eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our

Lord, and whom we have boldness and access with confidence

through our faith in Him. So I ask you not to lose heart

over what I am suffering for you, which is Your glory.

In the previous weeks, we've been going through the book of

Ephesians and we've seen Paul. He lays out this foundation of

theology. Paul writes about knowing and

living in the identity of who you are in Christ.

And specifically he talks about the blessings in Christ, both

for the individual believer and for the body of believers.

And last week we heard how through Christ, though through

Christ, those who are far off from Christ have been brought

near the Christ has broken down the dividing wall and reconciled

us to God the Father. In this passage today, Paul is

still laying on that foundation while taking a bit of a step

back to explain his own mission. In all of this, we see in the

passage Paul admitting that he doesn't consider himself worthy

to preach, but it has been given the tasks to do so.

Paul doesn't give a motivational speech on five things to do to

become worthy, but instead I believe he provides areas of

grace for what to do when you feel unworthy.

Ultimately, when we feel unworthy of the cost, we must

accept that Jesus paid the price.

By myself, I am unworthy. By yourself, you are unworthy.

But through Jesus, we are accepted.

We don't become worthy because of what we do.

We are accepted because of what Jesus did.

And so when we feel unworthy to be saved by Jesus, we must

acknowledge our identity in Christ.

We must act as a servant of Christ, and we must approach the

throne of Christ to combat. To combat this feeling of being

unworthy, we must first and foremost acknowledge our

identity in Christ. This is important because as I

just mentioned, that by ourselves, without Christ, we

would be unworthy to be saved. And so it's not helpful to

pretend that we aren't sinners or that we have some kind of

merit to make us worthy. We must start with the truth of

our old identity, that we were sinners in need of a Savior.

And when we start with that, it provides the proper appreciation

for our new identity. It helps us see the need for

Jesus and appreciate the price that he paid.

This passage starts off by Paul. He gives an identity statement.

He says for this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ, prisoner

of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, Paul called himself a

prisoner of Christ Jesus. And this could take a double

meaning. For one, he was an actual

prisoner on house arrest in Rome when he was writing this to the

church in Ephesus. And because of his boldness for

the faith and out of fear for their own traditions, the Jews

had Paul arrested and through many trials Paul would end up in

Rome. Ironically, what they were

accusing Paul of was bringing Greeks into the temple and

defiling the holy place. This was not true, but it

foreshadows what Paul reveals in this passage about the Gentiles

being brought into the body. Many of the Jewish leaders.

They were also concerned about their identity, but their

identity was wrapped up in their good works, not in the good

works of Jesus. By calling himself a prisoner of

Christ, Paul is also saying that he has surrendered his life for

the sake of Christ, not that he is being kept against his will,

but that he is primarily concerned with spreading the

gospel, particularly to the Gentiles.

Remember the previous verses that Pastor Jake spoke on last

Sunday? Paul talks about how Jesus

removed the dividing wall and that those who are far off from

Christ have been brought near. And Paul says for this reason he

is a prisoner of Christ. On multiple occasions in the

book of Acts, God calls Paul to bring the message of the gospel

to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas speaking to

the Jews in Acts 13. They say it was necessary that

the word of God be spoken first to you, since you thrusted aside

and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life.

Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles, for so the Lord has

commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the

Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the

earth. Paul finds his identity not as

someone who is bound to his own will, but as someone who is

bound to the will of God. In First Corinthians 9, Paul

surrenders his own rights and effort that the gospel may be

brought to more people. He says, For if I preach the

gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for necessity is

laid upon me. Woe to me if I don't preach the

gospel. Paul leans into this identity in

Christ. He doesn't focus on himself.

He admits that he can't even boast about his identity because

it has been laid upon him similar.

Similarly, as Christians we should take the same approach.

Our new identity is something given to us by Jesus.

We each have a role to fill in this king in the Kingdom of God.

And Paul elaborates on this continuing at verse 2.

He says, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of

God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was

made known to me by revelation. As I have written briefly, when

you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of

Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other

generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles

and prophets by the Spirit. Paul states that his identity as

a prisoner of Christ and as a steward of Christ stewardship

here, that means management. What Paul is saying is that he

is not the one who came up with this message or who owns it, but

rather that he is simply managing it.

He's managing what has been given to him.

It's not a message to it's not his message to change or to

alter to better suit him. And he writes it has been given

to him for the benefit of the Gentiles.

Again, not claiming his own identity to be great, but that

it was revealed to him through revelation.

Paul is acknowledging his identity in Christ by stating

that it was the Holy Spirit that revealed these things to him.

In verse 4, Paul is basically saying based on what you've seen

so far, see for yourself the insight that I have been given.

He's not arguing to prove that he has greater knowledge because

he's more special, but that the insight he has written about to

this point has been given to him.

Verse 5 Paul says there was not made known in previous

generations as it has been made made now, made known now.

It's mentioned in the Old Testament when God tells Abraham

that all nations will be blessed through him, and Isaiah speaks

of the Gentiles coming to the light, but it had not been made

as clear as it had now through Paul and the other apostles.

Paul could have thought much of himself for possessing this

knowledge, but he doesn't do that.

He focuses on his task of being a steward of the gospel, and

this should give us an example to follow.

When we feel unworthy about what we've been given, we can

reflect, internalize, and analyze until our head spins

about why we've been given grace.

But I think what Paul is exemplifying is that a better

use of your time is not to overthink your position and and

rather focus on stewarding what you have been given.

Steward the gift of grace well so that others can also hear of

Jesus and believe. Manage what you have been given

to the glory of the one who has given it.

And verse 6, Paul gets to the heart of his message.

He has stated his identity as a prisoner of Christ and as a

steward of Christ, and now he lays out the identity of all who

trust in Christ as heirs of Christ, Verse 6 reads.

The mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the

same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through

the Gospel. Paul saying that the Gentiles,

they're fellow members of the same body and this was

blasphemous for the Jewish leaders to hear.

Remember, this was the reason the Jewish leaders had him

arrested in the temple. They falsely accused him of

telling Jews to forsake their heritage.

But inwardly they were proud and they hated that Paul preached

things like we read last week in Ephesians 2 where we're all one

in Christ. The Jewish leaders held on to

their identity as morally superior, while Paul

acknowledged his identity in Jesus as being one in Christ.

He says the Gentiles are now fellow heirs, that they share

the inheritance of God's people, that they are members of the

same body belonging equally to Christ's global church, and that

they are partakers of the promise, sharing in the

blessings that Jesus brings and forgiveness and reconciliation

to God and receiving the Holy Spirit and adoption and

ultimately an eternal life for those that believe.

And that applies to us today as well.

When we feel unworthy to be saved, we must remember our

identity in Christ, that we are prisoners of Christ, stewards of

Christ, and heirs of Christ. Through the gospel, through the

good news of Jesus, our identity is secure in him.

When you first meet someone you haven't met before, what do you

normally do? You give them a brief overview

of who you are, right? Hi, my name is Joel.

I work at so and so. My parents are such and such.

I live in this town. In other words, you give them a

part of your identity. Maybe you try to say as little

as possible in hopes that you won't have to talk too long, but

normally you at least give them your name.

And as nervous as you may be to talk to a stranger, I don't

think anyone has ever questioned is if they feel worthy to tell

the person they are meeting their own name.

Why not? I mean, it sounds kind of crazy,

but who are you to say what your name is?

Who are you to claim that identity?

You didn't give yourself that name.

It was given to you, and now you're just going to tell people

about it. In the movie Gladiator, the main

character is fighting in this arena, and the emperor demands

to know his name. This is the same emperor that

has killed this main character's family.

And in dramatic fashion, the gladiator turns to the emperor

and says, my name is Maximus Decimus Boridius, commander of

the armies of the north, general of the Felix Legions, loyal

servant to the emperor, the true Emperor Marcus Aurelius, father

to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife.

And I will have my vengeance in this life or the next.

Now, that's just a fictional movie.

I'm not condoning the movie or the vengeance part of it.

But what I think the scene portrays well is the confidence

of the gladiator in his identity.

Not as a slave, not as a meager gladiator, but as a loyal

servant. His identity, as it were, is

rooted in allegiance to someone else and something greater than

himself. I wonder how our attitudes would

change if every time someone would ask us who we were, we

would answer them with My name is Joel Guisbrecht, prisoner and

steward of Christ, fellow heir, member of the body, and partaker

of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.

Nice to meet you. You might not talk much more to

them. They might turn around and run.

But obviously I say that in jest.

But the point is that our identity should be found in

Christ. When we feel unworthy to be

saved by Jesus, it's often because we're still holding on

to that old self, that part of our life that we feel ashamed

of, that part of our life that we wish we could redo.

But because our identity is in Christ, we don't need to hold on

to that former life. In Galatians 2, Paul says, I've

been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but

Christ who lives in me and the life that I now live in the

flesh. I live by faith in the Son of

God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Christ gave himself so that we could be presented justified to

the Father. When we feel unworthy, we must

acknowledge our identity in the risen Christ.

And when we acknowledge our identity in Christ, we must then

act as a servant of Christ. Feelings don't always tell us

the truth and anxiety it lives for the what ifs.

But one of the best anecdotes to anxiety is action.

When we feel unworthy to be saved by Jesus, we can start

going down the rabbit trail of what ifs.

We are told by Paul in Second Corinthians to examine ourselves

to see if we were in the faith. But if we have done that, then

as we just saw, we need to. We need to rest in that new

identity that we have in Christ. Rest doesn't mean do nothing

though. Just like you don't buy a new

pair of shoes and you leave them in the closet, we must proceed

to act as a servant of Christ. Paul is a servant of Christ and

from his writing we can observe what attributes of a servant of

Christ should be. In verse 7, Paul continues.

He says of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the

gift of God's grace which was given to me by the working of

his power. That word minister or diaconos

is where we get the term Deacon. Paul is saying that he was made

a servant, A Deacon if you will, according to the gift of God's

grace which was given to him by the working of God's power.

Paul is not taking credit for this ministry and he's also,

he's not shying away from it. He calls it a gift.

We can see one of the attributes of being a servant of Christ is

humility. In Paul's eyes it is a gift to

be a servant of Christ, not a burden placed on him, and also

at the same time not something which he uses to make himself

seem more important. One definition for a Deacon is a

leader or a servant in the church who is committed to serve

God through meeting the needs of the church, characterized by a

personality of humility and self sacrifice.

Here at LEMC this coming Saturday, we're going to be

voting on new deacons to serve the church body.

It's a big responsibility and it requires sacrifice.

And so I want to encourage you to pray for John and Katie

Friesen and Lisa Giesbrecht this week as well As for LEMC that

God's will will be done here as a church body.

Deacons, They serve others, but more importantly, they serve

God. In Ephesians 1, Paul uses the

word church to refer to all believers and he says that the

church is the body of Christ. So serving the church means

serving Christ. Those two aren't separate things

and serving others with humility.

You are acting as a servant of Christ.

Paul continues in verse 8 through 9.

He says to me, though I am the very least of all the Saints.

This grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable

riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the

plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all

things Paul. Again he shows humility, saying

that he is the very least of the Saints.

Although by this point Paul has done many miraculous things, he

still considers himself no better than anyone else.

If there was someone that could boast about himself, it would be

Paul. He was highly educated,

intelligent, expert in Jewish law, a Roman citizen by birth,

teacher, missionary, mentor and author.

But even with all those accolades, Paul does not claim

them as a reason for his revelation or for the revelation

that was given to him. He says this grace was given to

me, not earned. I don't think Paul felt unworthy

of his position out of a sense of doubt, but I think he

correctly understood the position he was in relative to

Christ. Paul admits in a letter to

Timothy that he was formerly A blasphemer, A persecutor, and an

opponent to God, but that doesn't stop him from being

faithful now. And that's important for us to

see as well, that even though he is humble and he claims that he

is the least of the Saints, he's also faithful with what he has

been given, whether which is another attribute we see as a

servant of Christ. A servant of Christ is faithful.

Unlike the parable of the lazy servant who takes the talent he

has received and he buries it and does nothing with it.

Paul doesn't do that. He is faithful with what he has

been, with what has been revealed to him, and he goes and

shares it to the Gentiles. The Scriptures The scriptures

say that that he has been given the gift of preaching the

unsearchable riches of Christ and to share the plan that God

has in store for all people. Can you imagine if Paul wasn't

faithful with that message? Of course, God being God, he

would have still gotten the message out through another way,

but it would have been a big missed opportunity for Paul.

Acting as a servant of Christ means being faithful with what

we have been given. It also means being an example

for other people. In verse 10, Paul says so that

through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made

known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly

places. Part of the reason for the

mystery being revealed is that Jews and Gentiles would be

converted and become jointly become joint members of the body

of Christ and therefore grow the church.

This is an example for those looking on of God's power and

grace that different people groups can come together and be

united under Christ. That word manifold, that means

many sided or greatly different colors.

It's the same root word that was used in the Greek translation

when it refers to Joseph's coat of many colors that was given to

him by Jacob. And like the many colors of that

coat, the church reflects the many parts of the body of

Christ. John Stott, he puts it this way.

He says the church as a multiracial, multicultural

community is like a beautiful tapestry.

Its members come from a wide range of colorful backgrounds.

As servants of Christ, we are an example not only to other

people, but even to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly

places. In other words, to the angelic

beings. The angelic beings are not like

God and that they know all things, but that as Peter puts

that they long to look on what is being revealed through

Christ. And so God's plan and his wisdom

are not known by the angels, but revealed to them by the church

itself. There's no other human

institution or community that can replace or replicate what

God has created in His church. In Acts chapter 2, God confirms

Acts 2 · chapter mention

His plan for the church by sending the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit comes down with power and a mighty rushing wind

and empowers the believers to speak in different languages.

But beyond that, the role of the Spirit would be to be the

presence of Jesus in the lives of believers.

Historically, Pentecost was known as the Feast of Weeks, and

it was also tied to get the giving of the law to Moses on

Mount Sinai. But for Christians today,

Pentecost is a celebration of the outpouring of the Holy

Spirit and the start of God's universal church.

God has ordained for believers, under the guidance of the

Spirit, to act as servants of Christ.

And shortly after the events on the day of Pentecost, we see the

formation of the office of Deacon as servants for the body

of Christ. But being a servant of Christ is

not reserved for deacons only. It's a responsibility of every

believer. Servants of Christ need to be

humble, they need to be faithful, and they need to be

good examples. But what does it actually look

like to be a servant of Christ? One way is to serve the church.

Remember, when you serve the church, you are serving Christ.

So serve using your talents that you have been given.

Be faithful with the abilities and strengths that God has given

you. Don't write those off.

I think something that often gets in the way of us serving is

not real humility, but false humility.

What's the first thing we do when someone gives us a

compliment? Oh, that's nothing.

Anyone can do that I that were that didn't really require much

work. It's uncomfortable because we

don't feel like we're worthy of that compliment.

But when we realize that every good gift comes from God and by

His grace He has given it to us, then we don't need to worry

about our worth because the gifting isn't tied to us, it

comes from God. Everyone has different talents

and abilities. We're not all going to play the

guitar well or lead a Bible study well, but we do need to be

faithful with what we have been given.

Your gifting is what comes easiest to you or what others

say you do well, so be receptive to the trusted input of the

believers around you. To be a follower of Jesus is to

serve Jesus and the church and acting as a servant of Christ in

humility and faithfulness. We don't need to worry if we are

worthy because it is God that has given us the gift through

his grace. And so when we feel unworthy to

be saved by Jesus, we acknowledge our identity in

Christ, we act as a servant of Christ, and just as importantly,

we approach the throne of Christ.

Let's continue reading verses 11 to 13.

This was according to the eternal purpose that He has

realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness

and access with confidence through our faith in him.

So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for

you, which is your glory. This plan of God to bring all

people together in Christ was not something that He came up

with on the fly. Paul says that it was God's

eternal purpose, something that he something that from the

beginning of time God had planned to accomplish through

Christ. I heard one commentator mention

that the Jewish people, they knew the scriptures well.

They knew that in multiple areas of the Old Testament where it

speaks of God blessing all nations.

But they suppose that it would be through everyone converting

to Judaism that the only way non Jewish people would become saved

was by becoming Jewish and following their strict rules and

traditions. But this mystery, it was hidden

from them. It was hidden from Abraham and

Isaiah, and it was only now revealed to Paul and the

apostles. When we feel unworthy or

insignificant, we remember the mean that the means of our

salvation rests in God's eternal purpose.

It wasn't random, it wasn't accidental, it was on purpose

for a purpose. And Paul reveals that because of

this former mystery that has now been revealed, that through the

plan God had from the beginning of time, we can now approach

Christ with confidence and with courage.

Verse 12 says in Jesus, whom we have boldness and access with

confidence, what an amazing God we serve, that He is not far

off, but that He is accessible to His people by His Son through

faith in Him. We can be bold then when

approaching God. We don't need to be scared of

God as someone that is just waiting to strike us down, but

as a loving Father who wants His children to come to Him.

Obviously we still need to show proper reverence and honor, but

we have freedom to bring all our cares, our doubts and our

worries to Him. We have access to the Father

through the Son. As we heard last week, the

dividing wall is torn down. We don't need any other

intercessors. Jesus is now our High Priest.

We can enter into God's presence knowing that we are, knowing

that we are unworthy, but trusting in the worthiness of

Christ. And we have confidence in Jesus,

knowing that Jesus was the fulfillment of God's plan from

before time, that although we may feel unworthy to come near

God, we have confidence that he will not turn us away.

I have a 2 year old son at home now and I tell you it's got to

be one of the coolest things watching him grow up.

This week in particular, he was pretty happy when I came home

and one day I opened the door and he's just running and

shouting and out of joy to see me, which was really cool in

itself. But he jumps into my arms and he

boldly and with confidence he says daddy go mow the lawn.

He loves riding the lawn mower with me and that moment he

didn't feel unworthy to be my son.

Although he can do nothing for me that I can't do myself, he

knows that I'm his dad. He knows that I love him.

And so he boldly approaches me and he has confidence that he

has access to me. And he's right.

His worth is he's his worth. As my son isn't based on what he

can do for me. How much more than should we not

have confidence to approach the throne of Christ?

Jesus talks about a similar thing in Matthew 7.

He says, if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts

to your children, how much more will your Father who is in

heaven give good things to those who ask him?

This ties back to where our identity lies.

If our identity is as a child of God, then our worth comes from

Christ and we can approach His throne with confidence.

We can also approach His throne with courage.

Paul says to those in Ephesus to not lose heart, that even though

Paul was stuck suffering in prison, he commends them to take

heart, to have courage. This was part of God's plan.

Paul being in prison and writing the many letters he did was all

part of God's plan. Paul says that his tribulations

are for the Gentiles, for their glory, which is a hard thing to

reconcile. How can suffering be glory for

other people? But Paul doesn't want the church

to become discouraged or to turn away from Jesus.

It would be easy to do so in the midst of suffering.

But Paul reassures them that even this is part of God's plan.

He didn't want his present suffering to cause the church to

fear. So he says, take heart, approach

God with courage, because even through suffering, God will work

out his plan. What does that mean for us?

One thing we know is that we are not immune to suffering.

The that suffering for Christ isn't a question of if, but

when. And when we do, we can have

confidence that we can approach Christ in prayer boldly and

present our requests, that we can share our deepest worries

and our fears. And he hears them and he cares

about them. It's not just a ritual to feel

better or a life hack. The act of praying to God is a

real and important discipline. And this means that we can have

courage in this life, that God's eternal purpose will be worked

out and we get to be a part of it.

I struggled to say the phrase God has a purpose for your life

because unfortunately it's very common with Christian jargon and

I believe it's lost a bit of its oomph because of how often it's

overused. But it's not just an idiom we

say to make us feel warm and fuzzy inside.

It's a scriptural truth that we are here for a purpose.

Remember, we are examples and image bearers of God.

To the angelic beings, that alone is already a meaningful

purpose. And so when the feeling of

unworthiness comes, when you feel like you aren't worth

serving in the Kingdom, bring those feelings to Christ in

prayer. Tell them your insecurities and

your shortcomings, confess your sins and repent of them.

And then focus on Christ. Focus on the work he has done,

focus on His worthiness. And in Thanksgiving, go boldly

forward with confidence and courage, knowing that you are a

part of God's eternal plan. At the beginning I mentioned I

didn't want to simply give a motivational speech on why

you're good enough or on why you're worthy enough.

See, the difference between most motivational speeches and the

proper exposition of Scripture is that the motivational videos

and speeches, they focus on you. It's all about doing more, doing

better. What we see from Scripture that

is not about your works, as someone put it, you are saved by

works, just not yours. You're saved by Jesus work.

I don't know where you are at with your in your walk with

Jesus, but maybe you're struggling with assurance.

Maybe you feel like Jesus could never accept a Sinner like you.

You may feel like you don't do enough for Jesus.

You don't know enough about Jesus, so why would he take you?

In the Gospel of John Chapter 9, we find the story of Jesus and

John 9 · chapter mention

his disciples coming across a man that's been blind since

birth and the disciples assuming someone must have sinned for

this to happen, either the man or his parents.

And they asked Jesus, but Jesus corrects them.

He says that this man's blindness, it's not a

punishment, but instead it's an opportunity for God's power to

be displayed. Jesus then restores the sight of

this blind man to the astonishment of the people.

They even begin to debate if this man is really the same man

that they had seen used to sit and beg.

And when they asked him how he was healed, he says the man

called Jesus healed him. The religious leaders and

Pharisees, they start investigating this miracle

because Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath.

And some are angry because they believe Jesus broke their

Sabbath rule, while others ask how can a man who is a Sinner do

such a thing. They question the healed man

multiple times and even bring him to his parents, confirm that

this man really was born blind. And at first the healed man says

the man called Jesus healed him. And then he says Jesus is a

prophet. And finally, when the Pharisees

keep pressing him, basically interrogating him and telling

him that Jesus is a Sinner, that Jesus is a Sinner, the healed

man, he gives this reply. He says whether he is a Sinner,

I do not know. One thing I do know that though

I was blind. Now I see, you see, the former

blind man, he didn't know all the facts and the reasonings

behind what Jesus did. He didn't know why Jesus came to

him in particular on that Sabbath.

He didn't have any reason for Jesus to heal him.

And if you could ask him, I'm sure he didn't feel worthy to be

healed. But when asked by the leaders of

that day, he gave him the honest answer.

He said I was blind, but now I see.

And the man goes on to tell the leaders that Jesus must be God

because if he wasn't, he couldn't do the miracles that he

was doing. This makes the Pharisees

furious. And they say to him, you were

born in utter sin, and would you teach us?

And they proceed to throw the healed man out of the synagogue.

The Pharisees, in their pride, they couldn't accept that this

lowly man had knowledge that they did not possess.

They couldn't grasp the mystery that was in front of them.

They told the man that he was born in sin.

And to a certain degree they were right in so far as we're

all born in sin. But that wasn't his final

identity, Jesus. When Jesus approaches him after

the Pharisees questions, Jesus reveals who he is to this man,

and the man believes and he worships Jesus, the healed man.

The healed man's new identity was in Jesus.

He was now acting as a servant of Christ and had confidence in

Christ. Though he wasn't worthy to be

saved, Jesus showed compassion and saved him.

But maybe you're here today and you've never taken that step of

faith in Christ. Maybe you're feeling like you

don't deserve grace, that you don't deserve to be saved.

Well, the truth is that you don't deserve it, and neither do

I, and neither does any other Christian.

But grace is being given something that you don't

deserve, and that's what Jesus is offering you.

He's offering you grace when you repent of your sins and turn to

Him in faith. If you continue to put it off

until you perfectly understand it, you will never reach it.

Faith is more than intellectual agreement.

And lastly, I want to encourage you here this morning.

If you're feeling unworthy, look to Jesus.

He is worthy. We don't need 7 steps to get to

Jesus. There's nothing we can do to add

to our salvation. If you have trusted in Jesus for

your salvation, you have a new identity, you have a new purpose

as a servant of Christ, and you have access to the One who knows

you better than you know yourself.

Let's pray. I want to close in prayer from

Psalm 51. Create in me and clean heart, oh

God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Your presence and take not your Holy

Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your

salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for sending Your Son to

bring us into relationship with You.

That the mystery is no longer hidden, but that we are

partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

I pray that we will live in the light of your grace to not let

our feelings control us, but to acknowledge our identity in

Christ, To act as a servant of Christ and boldly approach the

throne of Christ by ourselves. We are not worthy, but we thank

you that Jesus is. It's in his name we pray.

Amen.