The Power of Grace - our teacher in the school of life

[0:00] i'm going to go to titus 2 from verse 11 talking about grace and how it teaches us how it trains us how we can grow and we start there from verse 11.

[0:10] ! Titus 2 verse 11 it says for the grace of god that bringeth salvation have appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great god and our savior jesus christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works grace grace marvelous infinite we can look at the words of that song grace marvelous grace grace that is greater than all our sin and grace is the loving kindness of god isn't it it's unmerited undeserved the grace of god it's his transforming power that saves us and what's more grace guides us further in our lives for him as we see in that verse titus 2 verse 12 and grace saves us but what's more we grow in grace we learn by grace and really grace is our school master our teacher and so my exhortation this morning is a lived out faith a lived out christianity how we can live it how we can live it in our shoe leather how we can grow it's by grace it's by grace and grace saves us and grace trains us notice how we are to live again titus 2 verse 12 teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world so we're going to unpack that a little now some fear that an emphasis on grace will lead people to sin and that they should place an emphasis on works there's a lot of people that think that way you could say that they have a grace phobia grace phobia as if it's too much grace well that will mean that people will think oh we can just not care about how we live as if a focus on grace will weaken our walk with god some would even call it this kind of thinking greasy grace it's just too easy and they would discount this reliance on grace because they think well we've got to do something it's grace plus it has to be something i do adding on to it and they think that people with an assurance of salvation that actually as was told us today that it's by grace through faith and we have it as if that's maybe just gives people this kind of license to sin that they won't care about sin and that they'll be weak in their faith but actually the opposite is true the opposite is true if we're saved by grace through faith which we are then grace teaches us it teaches us it's the grace of god that we depend on it's the grace of god that we need to grow and we want to grow because we love him so the lover of our soul god calls us to grow to grow to go forward in grace to grow in grace we see that in 2 peter 3 18 it reads but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ to him be glory both now and forever amen so grace is meant to be a focus grace not the law it's not the law as much as the law is our schoolmaster but in the new covenant sense that grace is the new teacher grace is now our teacher and grace shows us how we're meant to grow and grace is teaching us teaching us or training us it's teaching us or schooling us it's instructing us

[4:17] when you think of it grace is our best teacher it is our best teacher it's teaching us and it's interesting this word you could even translate it as that grace is disciplining us when grace is teaching us it's got the sense of disciplining us as well i can remember back to my schoolhood days and and uh i had some moment in the uh principal's office and i had a bit of chastening a bit of chastening i had to learn a lesson my mum and dad probably know about this one uh but i can't even remember what it was but i think i was hanging around the wrong wrong crowd really and uh doing some stupid things that the others were doing i blame the others but no i got some wax on the behind from the from the principal and every time i drive past there it was hope valley primary school every time i drive past that school i i see that building there and that door there that i went inside that that place where i got the spanking and i remember the discipline the discipline but hopefully it's done me some good and my and my parents will discipline as well it's done me some good hopefully i'll hopefully learn some lessons by the discipline that i got so there's nothing wrong with a bit of discipline in fact we're supposed to be disciples aren't we allied to discipline so the word discipline the the word teaching us training us is signifies discipline signifies discipline even punishment uh chastening and it's interesting as i say it's the same word in this verse here hebrews 12 verse 6 for whom the lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son for whom he receiveth so the one the lord loves he's going to chase him there's a scourging there's a discipline there's a correction sometimes we need that amen even pastors need some correction now and again we all need it don't we it's it's developing us this chastening this discipline this training it's aimed to develop our character and our discipline our self-discipline hopefully we'll get some self-discipline out of the discipline we receive and so brothers and sisters this morning we need the school of god's grace that's the point we need that school of god's grace we need that lifelong training course that it is it's uh like we're in training till glory aren't we uh that that training is happening sometimes we need chastening chastening it's not a word that we like i still have horrors of uh of the trauma of it all uh but you know we think of vance havner an old-time preacher speaking of the value of discipline said this he said you cannot sharpen an axe on a cake of butter so there's this need for you to be sharpened you need to have some good discipline good discipline godly discipline and another preacher put it like this quite bluntly better to be pruned to grow than cut up to burn we want to be a a vine that's pruned that's pruned so it can flourish and grow and this is the kind of chastening that it's talking about here it's intended to train up a child train up a child speaks of the upbringing of a child sadly there's a lot of homes where there's really no discipline at all and we wonder why society's lawless because there's a lawlessness because they've never learned to behave in the home let alone in the community and so we need this chastening it's important for us to grow it helps us to get maturity and grace grace is the teacher grace is the teacher that we need someone's described this teaching as quote educating us by life's sad experiences god's grace is in truth a stern discipline of self-denial and training for higher themes it's educating us life's sad experiences sometimes they're the making of us aren't they when we have the sad the difficult things the times of trial we're learning it's the times we learn self-denial we're growing

[8:18] our school master is grace our school master and we're in this classroom called sanctification it's the christian life isn't it it's a classroom and grace operates us like this continuous lifelong work and so there's some self-denial called for it's that self-discipline aspect isn't it talks about denying ungodliness and worldly lusts so we're safe people god teaches us to deny some things to reject some things to say no to say i'm not going to have that i'm going to renounce that i'm going to say no i'm going to deny two things ungodliness and worldly lusts ungodliness what's that we could define ungodliness as referring to as you look at the context the previous few verses of the chapter we could see what practical holiness looks like and you can read through yourself titus 2 from verses 1 through it talks about some ways to live practical ways to live practical things to do to not do and you could gather from the context such kind of things to steer away from in the context of ungodly things like getting drunk that's an ungodly thing being disrespectful lacking self-control ungodliness it's in the context speaking of being irreverent being a slanderer ungodliness it speaks of impurity of unkindness a lack of integrity it's talking back it's stealing it's being untrustworthy so it's saying here deny ungodliness deny that and also it reads deny worldly lusts so worldly passions we could think of the lusts of the heart the desire to live independently of the will of god there's all kinds of desires that we've got to say no that's not of god that's worldly and our teacher grace says to us say no to that say no to the world you know young people older people look there's no age limit to temptation and then temptation is going to be your lifelong experience and we see 1 john 2 15 it tells us love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him so say no to the worldly lusts worldly lusts we could think of it as immoral lust as lusts for power the lust for materialism worldly desires and passions so on the negative side we're told here deny ungodliness deny worldly lusts let's look at the positive side as we read on tells us that the grace of god is teaching us how we should live there's some things positively we can look to live to live out and it puts these three things so makes for a really good three-point sermon this uh this text here how we could live soberly righteously and godly so think of soberly we're going to unpack it as someone's kind of portrayed it in this sense of soberly talks of the inward man or your mind or your heart soberly right righteously talks about the outward how others perceive and how you're seen to be the outward and then we see godly is the kind of upward direction our relationship with our lord so we're going to unpack these three truths today how grace teaches us in three kind of ways three ways grace teaches us how to live firstly we see soberly grace teaches us how to live soberly in other words live sensibly act sensibly it's got the sense of a sound mind this soberness of mind this sober thinking

[12:22] live sensibly act sensibly with a sound mind in other words we're to live moderately in a way that is true to our calling to live a self-controlled life you know exercise some control about the self god helping you what does thinking soberly look like there's a certain humility of mind here some scriptures we could cross reference for example romans 12 3 paul says for i say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly as god has dealt to every man the measure of faith he's saying there and grace is talked about here don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think you know we can get an inflated view of ourselves which is false isn't it we can think more of ourselves than we ought to think we're just an unworthy sinner saved by grace we're just a humble servant whatever good we do is all thanks and praise unto him it's only by the grace of god we can do anything for him and there's no credit to me or to you for any works really there's nothing to big note yourself about keep humble keep humble and to think soberly soberly so when we get saved god gives us a sound mind he actually clears our thinking all the junk gets cleared out and we get a new mind a new way of thinking the mind of christ a sound mind it's interesting the demoniac who was delivered saved and delivered he had a right mind in mark 5 and the other account of the possessed man he that was possessed with the devil he had the legion this multiplied number of demon devils in him it says that when he was they found him sitting and clothed and in his right mind and they were afraid wow this is radical he's got a different mind he's in his right mind now he's of sound mind now it's the same word of this sense of soberness allied to the word sober he's got a right mind that's what happens when you get saved amen yeah you get delivered i know i've been having some correspondence with people you know the big thing lately is deliverance ministry and it's all about and there's the apostle katherine crick and uh who was a former actress and i've seen some exposes about her and and all the carry on this apostle katherine crick as one example she's the latest flavor of the month in the charismatic charismania camp and there's all sorts of people out there with these deep demonic deliverances and and they're putting videos of people manifesting supposedly demons and all of this showmanship and such like that but really deliverance today for any who will trust christ is salvation when you're saved you get delivered if you if you have any demons they're gone when you get saved you don't need to have some exorcism or some uh showman go and and do some uh weird manifestations it's all a load of show and falsehood and sham and that's the kind of mentality that's about charismatic christianity now for you to get delivered from demons get saved that's that we go and preach the gospel we'll deliver them from demons when they get the gospel when they trust christ as their savior they're the demons are going to go then all right and then that person who gets saved they're going to be in their right mind they're going to have a soberness of mind and we're exhorted to be sober minded titus 2 talks about how young women should be sober and young men should be sober so i mean you're all young today so that's all of you so it tells us here that they may teach the young women to be sober to

[16:28] love their husbands to love their children to be discreet chaste keepers at home good obedient to their own husbands that the word of god be not blasphemed young men likewise exhort to be sober minded so young women be sober young men be sober be sober minded be temperate be sober and there's many exhortations along this theme of being sober we do well to be sober amen as you look at the world and generally they're not sober they're the opposite and you know it doesn't take much to actually figure out glug glug glug why they're why they're not sober all right so there's things to be mindful of and be warned against to rather be sober it's very clear the instruction is very clear be sober there's no doubt about that we see for example 2 timothy 1 verse 7 god tells timothy for god have not given to us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind again the same word sober sound mind same thing we want our mind to be clear we want to be able to you know there's a certain limit when you're driving down the road you're driving down life's road you want to have a sober mind amen you want to be sober you want to have a clear head you want to know what you're doing you want to have all the wits about you because there's an enemy out there he doesn't want you to be sober but jesus wants you to be sober so don't touch the stuff would be my advice for god wants you to be sober and it tells us how we to live soberly in all of our thinking in our thinking in our speaking in our acting in our practice of our life to be sober and of a sound mind it's so important and it's the spirit that god's given to us is that spirit that we should have a sober sound mind and the word urges us to soberness many times for example 1 peter 4 7 says but the end of all things is at hand be therefore sober and watch unto prayer so we're getting closer to the end whatever your view is the end's getting closer and so we should be sober amen whatever we should do is we should be sober and we should be prayful we should be praying we should be sober and praying and we should be sober because we've got an enemy that doesn't want you to be sober it says be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour so be sober be vigilant again we should be on high alert we should be in a full readiness for the attacks of the enemy against us so be sober don't don't cloud your mind or don't play with things that are going to make your mind um not sober but be sober amen and to be sober really speaks of being serious too doesn't it we're living in a world where most people are asleep yeah and it says in 1 thessalonians 5 verse 6 it tells us therefore let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober watch and be sober it's so important isn't it to be sober and we could think of the context of the day approaching that's the context here in 1 thessalonians 5 the day of the lord the day of the lord think of it living soberly means living sensibly have your wits about you have some self-control and sound judgment you can't have that when you're not sober i don't know in the legal system i can imagine a lot of crimes are committed when people are not sober because they just and then they say oh well i was under the influence of whatever it is they blame what they were under the influence of no you took it be sober don't touch it living soberly means exercising self-control and sound judgment be not drunk with wine wherein it's excess but be filled with the spirit let the spirit take control let the spirit have possession of you it's good to be

[20:33] possessed with god isn't it possessed with the holy spirit that's a good possession to have if we're talking about that we know that the spirit can take control be not drunk with wine but be filled with be filled with the spirit the spirit of god let that fill you you don't need to touch the other stuff soberness is about being vigilant and aware and avoid the excess the indulgences of the flesh of have moderation in your affections and here's some areas that we could consider how our lives could be sober we could think for example mental sobriety mental sobriety thinking about your mind keep a sober mind sound mind be sober minded keeping your mind clear of harmful influences and thoughts now guard your thought life yeah your heart yeah your mind guard your mind and watch out for influences that are not of god and grace really as the word repent says it's a change of mind grace changes our mind it changes our mind it changes how we think about some things and we see that we get a whole new way of thinking as we read here this classic scripture philippians 4 verse 8 finally brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things it's a mental sobriety that our mind is sober and we sound of sound mind a mental sobriety keeping our mind clear and focused and filling our mind with the things that are pure lovely of good report filling our mind with the word of god that would be a good thing to fill our mind with wouldn't it that'd be a good thing to be clear-minded to have the word of god in our mind and another area is emotional sobriety in other words managing our emotions in a healthy way we've got a world where people just they just go troppo i know used to live in northern territory they had mango madness up there you know people just go nuts and they lose their cool they blow off steam they just blow their stack and they go stupid and that's the way the world is isn't it no control of their emotions and the word of god causes to an emotional sobriety in other words be sober in your emotions it tells us here proverbs 16 32 here that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh the city now keep your emotions in check keep your keep her cool keep your composure manage your emotions in a healthy way avoid overreacting and flying off the handle and starting to go oh la la la shut up don't do that have some emotional sobriety okay keep keep your spirit right keep in check don't overreact it's it's uh you know keep things in perspective rather than going nuts you know that's the world's way isn't it to overreact and to be impulsive and to start you know just they just say things they shouldn't say and they think oh look i know i shouldn't have said it look words are like toothpaste once they're out your mouth you can't put it back in don't say them don't do it you know keep that soberness that's in your emotions right and then the third area is a physical sobriety as well so we think about a moderation in our habits our behaviors such as eating drinking and using substances we think well you've got to think what would honor my lord with that sort of thing that moderation am i exercising that knowing that my body is a temple of the holy spirit

[24:37] it reminds us of that here it says paul says what know you not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you which you have of god and you're not your own for you are bought with a price therefore glorify god in your body and in your spirit which are god's have some moderation hey you're a temple you're a temple you're a holy temple you're meant to be such a temple so live soberly now count the things that you partake of the things that go into your body hey let's measure that let's let's be moderate let's realize what's going to be the best what's going to be the healthiest what's going to be the sensible and the wise thing to do we see this world is just given over to you know gluttony and and just excess and abandon you know the entertainment of the world is just to go and get paralytic and just go yeah just go and have a happy hour and and just let the flesh just take over and there's no exercising of restraint and constraint and they wonder why their lives are wrecked friends but we should be different we should live soberly and grace teaches us how to live soberly grace teachers as hey no i'm not going to touch that because it's not right because i'm a temple i'm bought with a price i'm his possession and i've got to do what the master tells me i've got to do what my maker wants for me for for me to live right to glorify god with my body and we see we should live soberly and the grace of god the grace of god teaches us to live soberly and the grace of god teaches us secondly to live righteously we are to live righteously now you could picture that as really the outward it's hey oh they're they're a righteous person because you can see it there's something that shows there's something that's outward how to be righteous how can we be righteous in a world that's given over to the devil how can we live godly in a godless world how can we live righteously and righteous living when you think about it is right living it's living right before my fellow man so hey did you know gossip yeah scandal you think oh let me tell you some dirt on that one i could tell you a bit about this man here he's not always righteous people see that we don't want that we don't give any ammunition to that we don't want to feed that do we that how we want to be righteous we want to be living right so we're an open book so that there's no um you know there can't be any scandal or anything any dirt dug up on us because there isn't any that would be the good thing wouldn't it living right and so we could think about the rightness in all aspects of our lives and living right grace teaches us how to live right not because of rules but because of love we want to live live right because we want to please our master that's why we want to live right because he saved us and we want to live worthy of him we want to walk worthy of him so we should live right we should give right too we should give right not under some kind of bondage but out of freedom not out of some measure of man's making but we want to give right do what's right give what's right not what's left you know there's a saying that like that too you know give give right and think right think right as well not because of man's learning but because of the spirit's leading think right but hey this is what tells me how to think and this is going to guide me to think right and then work right as well now some people they work because they think oh they've got to show some um service because they're being watched but no we work right because not because of a yoke that's imposed on us but because of christ's yoke that we receive all right so sometimes people put a yoke of bondage on themselves the lord jesus says my yoke is

[28:40] easy and my burden is lying now i could give you lots of uh yokes if you if you want some work to do i can give you a whole lot of yokes to put around your neck and say well you've got to do this you've got to do that you've got to be at this be at that and i need someone to do that so you're it and you're going to have to put x amount of time in and you're going to have to do it this way and the other way i don't want to put a yoke on you of man's making but then if the lord impresses you hey there's a need here in this church and i could help there's something i could i could say i could say here am i lord you could say if god impresses you to do something to serve him then let it be his yoke his yoke that's working right isn't it and it's because i want to serve him i want to be in the yoke i'm not coming to church or coming to this meeting or that meeting because the pastor's putting it on me but because i want to do what's right what's right and it's possible to live righteous people we see james 5 16 it reads confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much that's that word teach us how to live righteous is the same word here a righteous man prays we could do that more can we pray effectually pray fervently pray pray for one another pray the righteous pray and our works can be righteous too i know we're in a movement that really doesn't emphasize works we emphasize faith but there's nothing wrong with works works are a good thing there's some works that are evil as we see here cain but we see that abel's works were righteous there's such a thing as righteous works so the our works can be righteous they can be done with the right spirit with the right motive and such works are commended some things are the right thing to do too for example on the home front children obey your parents in the lord for this is right when god says to do something then that's the right thing to do amen children obey your parents why because this is right you know if you want to know what's right do what it says here because this is right what the bible says to do is the right thing to do and of course our righteousness is by faith as well even our righteousness is by faith it says the just shall or the righteous same word the just shall live by faith so our righteousness our living righteously is by faith it's by grace by faith think of it living righteously it's god's standards it's god's word and we want to please him don't we because he loves us so we want to do what's right because it's in his sight what is right and when we do what's right in his sight we'll be right in the sight of others too they won't be able to say oh did you know he and he or she it gets up to this or that that's not what a christian should do well we don't have to care about what they say what the accuser of the brethren says but we want to do what he wants for us amen we want to do what's pleasing in his sight and that's the right thing so let's live a life that's committed to doing what's right in god's eyes and that he's got a higher standard anyway how does living righteously look in a practical way it's personal integrity being honest and upright in all of our dealings both in private and in public you know i served in in the in the in the public sector and i could have taken a whole lot more sickies than i did when i when i finished my job i had months and months of sick days that i've never taken because i don't need to take a sick day if i'm not sick all right and that should be our integrity shouldn't it should be our integrity but hey i'm going to be the best employee that i can be and i

[32:42] want to leave with a good record that there's nothing that they could say about me that oh we're going to sack him because or whatever it be mind you i had a boss that didn't like me because i'm as a christian but that's another issue but we want to live such that we want to live to his standard and hey there's no dirt on me they can't say anything about my work ethic because it's right it's the right thing that's integrity integrity we want that don't we but we should be the best employee in the shop it says to do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the lord than sacrifice so living righteously is about treating others with fairness as well standing up for those oppressed justice judgment it's acceptable to the lord it's the right thing and micah 6 8 it says he that showed thee o man what is good and what does the lord require of thee but to do justly same concept righteously do justly do the right thing love mercy and walk humbly with thy god so friends did i think about it living righteously it's what would be pleasing to our lord it's the right thing do that it's following god's word living out your faith such that the world around you hasn't got anything that they can say against you because you're living right by god's standard so live soberly live righteously and the grace of god is teaching us that we should live godly godly so this is kind of the third dimension if you like godly living is that living that right condition before god live godly in other words in his side we want to live soberly having the right mind the right spirit the right heart we want to live righteously so the world around us says yeah that's a righteous one and we want to live godly that answer him is our focus and noah's webster's dictionary says godly defines it as this living in obedience to god's commands from a principle of love to him and reverence of his character and precepts it's obeying god it's living loving him revering him his character his truth it speaks of living reverently as well this is the literal sense of it to live godly it's got a sense of reverence you know there's a lot of reverence lacking in our world today people just mock christianity routinely you know the comedians it's almost like that that's uh one of the go-to's for comedians today is to mock christians or christian values godly truths the godly are meant to be a god-fearing people we're meant to stand out from the crowd and and the world mocks that doesn't it they mock the amish or whatever uh not that we need to be like them necessarily but because they've got to stand they've got a standard they're standing on a principle and they're fair game because they're different and it's the same for you and me in the workplace isn't it you're different oh you're not coming to the glug glug happy hour or you might go but you just take a something appropriate but you're different you don't hang around and i laugh at all the smut and the course jesting why because you're god fearing you're a god-fearing man and we see of the world of the lost it says that there's no fear of god before their eyes they don't care about god it's all a big joke isn't it but for us that are the godly we want to live with reverence with worship to have a holy life that will stand for the truth and we won't care what the crowd says living godly means living in life for the glory of god that's what matters that's the ultimate that's the best and in the old testament living godly is intimately associated with the fear of god the fear of

[36:45] the lord that reverential fear and awe of him that that impacts how we live because we want him to be pleased to live godly is having that reverent awareness that god's watching and he's over me and i want to honor him in all aspects of my conduct and i want to live my life such that he is pleased that's what counts the most to me are we godly it's seeking first the kingdom of god and his righteousness spurgeon put it about living godly god will enter into all his calculations god's presence will be his joy god's strength will be his confidence god's providence will be his inheritance god's glory will be the chief end of his being god's law guides his conversation it's living in a way that honors him isn't it that he would be the one first and foremost in our contemplation in our decision making when we live godly there's a certain amount of persecution we can expect to actually welcome it welcome it because that's a good sign if you're getting punished and persecuted then chances are you're doing something right all right how to be godly do we honor our lord it tells us that the lord has set apart him that is godly for himself are you set apart unto him do you cherish him do you honor him is he your all in all your devotion your heart that he would be the one the center point of all of your life that you are set apart unto him a precious possession it speaks of worship godliness too this word godly it's associated with this word worship so when we see lydia was one who worshiped god her heart the lord opened and she attended to the word she was saved she was a worshiper it's their sense of worship is the sense of godliness it's their allied worship is related to godliness and so we know the word tells us that god is looking for worshipers that's why you're here this morning that's why you're here thank god you're here that you care about worship how is that worship that devotion through the rest of the week are there times you could worship corporately or at home make time for worship take time to worship someone tells of the blessedness of the man who delights in the law of the lord meditates on it day and night don't just make it a sunday thing but live godly 24 7 and cultivate that godly relationship that upward cultivate it make it stronger build it strengthen it and it'll show in our interactions too because he's made our heart tender he's forgiven us so we can extend grace to others too can't we god helping us even if it goes against the grain you know be be patient with your pastor even when you're annoyed with him you know be forgiving be kind be tender-hearted you know we're all faulty and failing um i know the man in the mirror is always that way be compassionate one to another think of it extend grace to the ones in your life that you think oh they don't deserve it well neither do you neither do you come on get real living godly living godly it's about our daily witness isn't it our testimony do we live in a way that others are saying hey they're one of them and one of those saints they're one of those holy ones they look a bit they look like they're salt they look like they're light something glowing about them there's something inside of them there's something that's manifesting that this light is shining out of them but as they see your good works they're going to glorify your father which is in heaven think of that that your workmates will see your light is so so shining

[40:50] and shining so bright that they may see your good works and they're going to glorify your father which is in heaven hey some of you folk that you mix with that are in your circle of influence yeah they might get saved wouldn't that be good amen and the grace of god the grace of god is what we need isn't it the grace of god it brings salvation and it's our teacher as well wow i need that the one who saved me jesus grace personified he saved me he wants to keep teaching me so that i keep growing so i keep glowing that i'm living soberly that i'm living righteously that i'm living godly in this present world and all the mess of it all i'm still going to live righteous i'm still going to live sober i'm still going to live godly because it's god's grace that saves me and it's god's grace that empowers me enables me that even in the messiness and the ungodliness of a worldly workplace or a worldly context worldly family members or friends i'm going to shine brighter for the glory of god and god's grace is that which empowers us to so live that we reflect his character bring him glory let's strive for that now we could you could hear this sermon and think well i'm just blowing off uh my uh uh exhortations i hope that some of this will sink and you say yeah i could do this bit of pastor's sermon i could do this little bit maybe maybe a mustard seed of my sermon you could say actually i can do that i could do that better god helping me i can make that change in me that i can be living i could live a bit more soberly than i used to live i could live a bit more righteously than i used to live i could live a bit more godly than i used to live and so even if you just make incremental just a tiny change think yeah i could i could change this bit about me for the glory of god god and then maybe next week it'll be this bit it'll build yeah let's try to embody these things such that it's the grace of god that's changing you the grace of god he so freely gives doesn't he unworthy of it as we are think of the grace we don't deserve any skerrick of it we don't deserve an iota of grace yet he's lavished it upon you that are saved today and so grace teaches us how to lend i put to you let's aim to get a good grade right a good grade and when we get to glory and he and he goes you know there's a little box there he puts a to to you in it uh soberly do you get an a plus or maybe a b or a c that grace teaches us we want to get an a don't we and they an a double plus grace teaches us to live soberly right grace teaches us what about righteously oh oh maybe i'm a i'm a d on that one god i have to be an a all right i need to be an a plus student all right grace teaches you how to live and all of these three subjects in godliness too let's aim to get a good grade soberly while the inward the heart the mind the thinking righteously hey what others think how you portray your faith are you living it just live by faith you should be living it should be shown that you are righteous not that you're wanting to show off to them but grace teaches you to live righteously and then grace teaches you how to live godly amen get that right that's really fundamental isn't it your relationship with god so let's get high achievements in all of these three dimensions for the grace of god that bringeth salvation how the pits are all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope it's not long but blessed hope is

[44:58] only only only moments away in the scheme of eternity isn't it looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great god and our savior jesus christ who gave himself for us think of his love to give himself for you why that he might redeem us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify purify unto himself it's unto him unto him purify you unto him unto himself a peculiar people special special special people zealous of good works praise him he's the teacher let's uh let's get in the classroom of grace amen let's let let's get in the school of grace and let him teach you let him train you lord we thank you that you are the great teacher of our soul the savior of our soul and it's your grace it's grace from go to woe lord it's grace only grace as we in simple faith receive it that can save our soul that you can forgive us all of our sin that you can make our heart clean that we can have a change of mind that heart change that we can trust you entirely trust you to be the one who saves us from our sin and saves our soul and cleanses us such that our sin is completely forgiven because of your work at the cross lord we thank you for that wonder that is calvary the wonder of grace help us lord to live such that we'll live soberly righteously and godly in this present world all for your glory and praise amen