Eph 2:2-4, 12-13 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us . . . 12-13 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

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We all have received those phone calls where we have won something big, absolutely free, with no obligation, yours today and then comes that little big word "but..." "But, you have to sign up for such and such, but you have to do this and that, and before you know it, what was "free" ends up being very costly. I was at my in-laws' house last year for Thanksgiving when a guy called my Father-in-law with "great news" that he had won 10 free subscriptions to the magazines of his choice for five years! They had Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, Time, Newsweek, any magazine that you wanted and there was no subscription fee and you could pick out the top ten or so that you wanted and they would be delivered to your door ABSOLUTELY FREE for 5 years. My Father-in-law picked out his ten magazines, gave the guy his address and was about to hang up, when the guy asked for a major credit card number. "What for, I thought it was free?" The reply came: "oh it is absolutely free, but we just need to charge you a small monthly fee for shipping and handling." When told the amount, my father-in-law figured it up that the "shipping and handling" on his free magazines was going to cost him something like $700 over the next 5 years. He politely told the guy to get lost! It sounded pretty good, until you got to the "but" at the end of the call! That little big word spelled "b-u-t" changed everything.

Or maybe you've experienced the impact of a little word in another way. Someone comes up to you with a sort of compliment and it all sounds good until that little word slips in. Back when I was a music minister, I had certain people that I would cringe when they would come to me because their "compliments" always went something like this: "Bro. Sibley that was a good song the choir sang tonight, BUT...." or "Bro. Sibley, I think you are doing a great job as the music person, but...." and that little word was followed by whatever numerous complaints that they felt like griping about at the moment. I could have well lived my life and done without the compliments followed by "but." One little word can make so much difference!

There are several "big little words" in scripture that you'd better pay close attention to. The biggest little word in the scripture is "if." James said:

It is not enough just to believe if you never put that faith into action. If you really have faith, then it will move you to obey God's Word. Peter talked about examining yourself to make sure that God's love and patience and diligence and way of living is within you, and then says:

That little big word "if" means that you must do something for those promises to apply to your life. I've heard people tell me "God will forgive anybody so I can live like I want to and still go to heaven." God is a merciful God, but they are missing a big little word in the scriptures. God's mercy is only on the repentant and those who obey what He has commanded them to do. He will forgive you IF you will obey His Word. You will never fall "if you make your calling and election sure."

Another big little word in the bible is "and." It joins two things as being equal. For instance Jesus said in the Gospel of Mark:

There's a lot of people who miss that big little word "and." Water Baptism is an essential part of being saved! Some people miss that same word in one of our favorite scriptures:

You can see, then, that paying attention to the little big words in scripture can be very important!

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In our text in Ephesians, I cannot help but notice the impact that another little big word has on what Paul is saying. That little big word that I am talking about is "but." Let me read our text in the Living Bible Translation to really break it down plain to you what Paul was saying:

Paul told the church in Ephesus that in the past they had walked in the path of the world and destruction, unknowingly doing the will of Satan, and with a disobedient spirit to the will of God that was bringing a path of doom and destruction. We were headed for a certain destruction after a lifetime of pain and disappointment, and then comes the two little big words that illustrate the hope of the world: "But God..."!

He goes on to talk about how that we were aliens from the presence and blessings of glory who had no hope of true happiness either in this world or in the world to come because we were shut out of the promises of God by our sins, and then again the little big word gets involved "But NOW even Christ Jesus..." But when Jesus got involved, we who were shut out of the promises of God were drawn into them!

What applies to the church in Ephesus, also applies to us today. There ought to be a fanfare of praise that springs forth from every Born-again Spirit-filled believer's lips today because every testimony in this place can be summed up in these two little words: BUT GOD. We were going down the wrong path that leads to destruction: BUT God got involved. We were doomed for a lifeless and pointless life, BUT God! Our family was falling apart ... But God! We were headed for a devil's hell ... But God! The cloud of depression hung low and the weight of our past sin seemed to be about to crush us. But God got involved! His blood washed our sins away! His mercy helped us to our feet! His Spirit filled our hearts! His love lifted us higher than we ever thought imaginable. We were going to be lost and another hopeless statistic ... But God! Those two little big words could very well be the theme on the banner of every one of our lives! Where would we be . . . BUT GOD?

Paul put it like this to the church in Corinth:

And such were some of you... but God got involved and cleansed your soul!

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Instead of spending my studying time researching interesting and "deep" topics for my sermon this week, I decided to find out how many times that small but powerful phrase "but God" was used in the entire scripture. It is used exactly 43 times in the King James Version. There is one particular story that uses this phrase four of those 43 times and thus is inseparably linked with our subject. It is the story of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers.

Perhaps you have heard the story many times, or perhaps this is your first. The story is told from chapter 37 of Genesis on until the end of the book. God obviously wanted us to study the life of Joseph, because in a book where the entire creation of the world and mankind gets two chapters, the story of Joseph gets 14! That's a fourth of the entire book! Joseph was the 11th son of the twelve sons of Jacob and the calling of God was upon his life. God began to give him dreams that he would rule and be a leader over his family. Needless to say the older brothers got tired of hearing about Joseph's dreams and begin to murmur and complain about him. Then Joseph's father decided to give him an honored coat of many colors which signified that he would stay around the house and learn how to run the family while the other brothers had to go outside and do manual labor. In the fields, the older brothers got jealous with rage at the blessings of Joseph.

The fateful day came when Joseph was sent out alone to see how the work was coming along, and the brothers were working in a far away field. When they saw that Joseph was coming along, they decided to kill him, but one brother talked them into just catching and tying him up first. They pounced on him, stripped off the prized coat and dropped him down inside an empty well that was nearby. As they were sitting there trying to think of what to do with him, a caravan of traders came by on camels heading into Egypt. They sold Joseph as a slave and then, dipping his coat in blood, led their father to believe that he had been killed by a wild animal.

The story grows wilder from that point. Joseph was traded to a ruler in Egypt named Potiphar. Joseph continued to be faithful to God and Potiphar made him ruler of all his house. One day as Joseph was going about his business, Potiphar's wife propositioned Joseph and he ran out of the house accidentally dropping his coat as he did so. The spurned wife then made up a lie about him that he had tried to force himself upon her and Joseph was cast into jail for something that he did not do.

Most of us would have given up and quit trusting in God if we were in Joseph's circumstances. God gave you a dream, and you acted upon it believing God that the dream that HE gave you would come to pass, and instead of seeing your dream fulfilled all you got was persecution, envy, your closest companions sold you out and you find yourself in Egypt and being cast into a dark jail for living as God had commanded you to live! If Joseph had let himself he could have done what many people do and choose to focus on the "buts" of life. He could have said "God I would have been what you wanted me to be, BUT I was treated unfairly." "I could have had a happy life serving you, but things didn't turn out quite like I planned."

How many people do you know that are slaves to the "buts of life?" They would be happy IF .... They would be contented IF ... They would truly trust God BUT.... The little big words seem to get in the way. They would have a happy home BUT ... They would sell out to God BUT.... Or maybe they find themselves in the locked cell of their situation and they get caught up in the "buts of the past." Everything was going good BUT... I had it all figured out, BUT... If only such and such hadn't happened in my life, I could have ... And they allow the "might-have-beens" and the "buts" to rob every ounce of potential of joy in their life because they give up on life and think that their spiritual success is a hopeless case. BUT I've got good news for you today! You need to get like Joseph in the jail. Here the words of the preacher in our other text today:

Those things that have happened to you might be reasons enough to believe that you will always be a failure, oh but wait a minute. Maybe, BUT God will never fail you! BUT God is faithful to those who trust His name! BUT God never changes and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever so the God that delivered Joseph is still in control today. BUT God will not desert you! BUT God can move any mountain!

"Oh, but preacher my financial picture is pretty bleak!" But God holds the riches of the universe in the palm of His hand. "But my family's falling apart" But God is the healing Balm of Gilead that can heal every broken heart. "My life has fallen apart" But God is the master potter that can reshape the clay into a vessel of honor. "But I'm sick and the doctors say that there is no hope" But God is the Great Physician and "by his stripes we were healed." Not "are healed" but "were healed." The price is already been paid for your healing! "But my situation looks impossible." But with God nothing shall be impossible! "But I can't figure out how the situation could turn around." But God is able to do exceeding abundantly all that we can ask or think! "Oh preacher, you are just trying to get us excited and pumped up." No, I'm trying to get you to realize that the God that loved you enough to come and die for you is just as real and alive and wanting to work in your life as He has ever been. If you will surrender you situation to Him and trust Him, then you will find that He has the answer to EVERY one of the "Buts of Life."

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Joseph never stopped trusting in God. He made the most of his situation. Before long the jailkeeper was so impressed with his attitude that Joseph was made the head of all the jail. Before long, the butler and the baker of the Pharaoh got thrown into jail and God gave them dreams that Joseph was able to accurately interpret. When the butler got out of jail, Joseph begged him not to forget to mention his situation to the Pharaoh, but the butler did forget. Once again Joseph had been let down by man. Years passed and it seemed as if Joseph would die in that prison, BUT God got involved! He gave a dream to Pharaoh that no one could interpret. Suddenly the butler had a flash of remembrance and he says "I know someone that can interpret dreams!" They sent for Joseph, and Joseph told Pharaoh that God was warning him of seven years of severe famine after seven years of plenty. Pharaoh was to put somebody in charge of storing up grain and crops for the years of famine. Before it was over, Pharaoh had made Joseph second-in-command of all of Egypt and had placed him over everything. God had had a plan all along!

Eventually the brothers of Joseph out in the country began to starve from the famine. They had heard that Egypt was the only place with food so they traveled into to meet the "second-in-command" of Egypt to ask for food. To make a longer story shorter, they did not recognize Joseph at first and finally he revealed himself to them. They shrank back in horror realizing that the brother that they had so maliciously mistreated was now in a position to have them beaten, tortured, or even executed. Listen carefully to the words of Joseph to his brothers:

"am I in the place of God?" I like that. Joseph looked around at Egypt which represented the buts of his life and said "the dungeon, the slavery, the hardships, I can see now that I was in the place of God for my life all along." "Brothers, you meant a great evil against me, BUT GOD meant it unto good!" If you will stick with God, even when others maliciously try to hurt and kill you, God can turn it into good. I stand by the promises of His Word in Romans:

If you will love God and trust Him, then He will get involved and you may be looking at your situation not being able to see how any good could come out of it, BUT God can make all things work together for GOOD! He can do so even out of the worst situations.

We don't have time to delve off in detail all of the beautiful illustrations in scripture, but the pages of the Bible are full of examples that God will be faithful and turn your situation around if you will be faithful to Him. Samson was about to die of thirst after fighting a great battle for God, "But God caused water to flow" so that He could drink. Saul was out to kill David in a fit of jealousy "But God" delivered him and anointed him king of all Israel. Cornelius was a good man but was not able to worship according to the Jewish laws and traditions and Acts 10 says that "But God" got ahold of Peter and sent him to preach to that man's family and before long the entire family was filled with the Holy Ghost! In Philippians, we find that Epaphroditus, Paul's fellow minister" was "sick unto death, BUT GOD had mercy" and healed him! That same God is alive today and He is no respecter of persons. What He did for others, He WILL do for you! Listen carefully to one more scripture about the pains of life:

That's a promise from the God that cannot lie. When you trust in God, the situation may look hopeless, BUT God will be faithful to you. Keep your eyes on Him and His power! Deliverance may not come instantly, but if you will keep trusting in Him, one day you will be able to look back at your trial and circumstances and say like Joseph did "I was in the place of God!" "The enemy had it out for me, BUT GOD was faithful!" "Others wanted to destroy me, BUT GOD was protecting me!" Take all your "buts of life" and if you end up with "But God" everything works out! "I would have been happy and fulfilled in life, but such and such happened: BUT GOD got involved and reversed my situation!" That was why Paul could look at His life and say:

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I could spend the remainder of this sermon telling you awesome stories about how I have seen God turn hopeless situations into blessings and time and time again. But I want to focus on what is perhaps the flip side of "but God" in scripture. Jesus used the phrase in a story that He told in the Book of Luke:

This man had his whole life planned out. Sounds good didn't it? The American dream: he didn't need anybody to help him and he could wile away the years in festivities and rest. BUT look at the next verse and you'll find that in providing for his family, and his future, and his cattle, and his life, there was one area that he neglected to prepare adequately for:

God doesn't mind you being blessed and He doesn't mind you planning for the future and storing away a little money for a "rainy day." But in all your getting and planning, you'd better plan for eternity. One day your worldly wealth will not mean much when you step across that line from earthly to spiritual. I want you to realize that the rich man in Jesus' story was certainly a wise person and a man who knew how to plan and prioritize. But in his everyday life, the physical had taken priority over the spiritual. I can almost hear his voice: "I should go to church today, but my business needs me to do... " "I should go learn exactly what this man, Jesus is saying, but I've got an appointment at 3 and then the harvest is starting . . . maybe after this harvest I'll get things right with God." "I know I should make that situation right with so and so and apologize and get rid of those bad feelings between us, but today this other stuff is much more important." And the "buts of wrong priorities" brought him to the day when the scriptures say "but God said, thou fool tonight thy soul will be required of thee." He put off selling out to God until time ran out in his life. He had all of his life planned out, but God knew when his time was up.

II Kings chapter 5 introduces us to a man named Namaan. He was a successful man by all accounts of this world: He was captain of the entire Syrian army and was extremely wealthy. He was famous and the scriptures say that he was "honorable and a mighty man in valor, BUT he was a leper." And the dreaded disease of leprosy meant that he would soon die a painful death and never enjoy his fame, position, or money. Leprosy meant that he had to leave his nice home and his family and move out alone in the wilderness until death finally came. Namaan had everything going for him BUT he was a leper, and that leprosy superceded everything else!

Can I tell you that your life may not have been one of extreme hardship. Maybe you have been successful in this world and maybe you are smart, and maybe you are industrious, and maybe you have everything in your life in order and planned out. Maybe you have achieved every goal that you wanted to achieve in this earthly life or are almost there. But can I tell you that if you have not taken the time to ask God to forgive you of your sins, and be baptized in Jesus' name to wash those sins away, and allow Him to fill you with the precious gift of the Holy Ghost, then you have not dealt with the disease of sin that has been with you since you were born. You couldn't control that you were born without really having a close relationship with God. The Bible teaches that by Adam's sin, sin and death passed upon all of the world, so that all have sinned. Everyone in this room, the preacher included, is a sinner. But some have taken care of the leprosy by following God's plan of Repentance, Water Baptism in Jesus' name, and receiving the Holy Ghost. Just like Namaan, if you have everything that this world has to offer, and yet have the leprosy of sin still hanging on you, you are still a leper, and that disease will end up taking away everything that you have.

But Namaan obeyed the words of a man of God to go to the Jordan river and dip seven times, and God healed Him. Namaan was doomed to death BUT GOD provided a way of escape. You don't have to be like the rich man who had everything worked out and yet lost his soul with his life. You don't have to be afraid of the day that you will step across into eternity. Because of Adam's sin you were born doomed to eternal death in a lake of fire, BUT GOD stepped out of glory and became flesh so that He could die and shed His precious blood so that you could be saved IF you would properly apply that blood to your lives AND give your heart to Jesus. Those big little words cry out to you today, demanding a response. You may be heartbroken today, and you may be lost and a sinner that feels as if you are beyond the help of grace. BUT GOD is faithful to forgive us our sins IF we will ask Him for forgiveness. But God is faithful to wash our sins away if we allow ourselves to be baptized in the name of Jesus. But God is willing to fill us with the Holy Ghost if we will surrender everything to Him. It may be a hopeless situation, BUT GOD is able to turn it around!