Amen.
Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Titus.
We are continuing our series in the book of Titus this morning,
and we will be in chapter 2, verses 11 through 15 this morning.
Chapter 2, verses 11 through 15.
If you're using the few Bibles there in front of you, you can find that on page 938.
So if you did not bring a Bible of your own, it'll be here on the screen behind me,
but I encourage you to have a Bible open in front of you,
because we'll be flipping around a few other places as well,
and you can find that on page 938.
Titus 2, 11 through 15. Follow along with me as I read.
For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all people,
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
waiting for our blessed hope,
the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness,
and to purify for himself a people for his own possession,
who are zealous for good works.
Declare these things.
Exhort and rebuke with all authority.
Let no one disregard you.
Let's pray once more.
Lord, this is your word.
Father, this word is so full of treasures for us to uncover
and explore and cherish.
And so we pray that we would do that now.
Would you help us to grasp,
for the first time or for the thousandth time,
help us to grasp the goodness of you and your glory,
the goodness of the doctrine of God.
We pray this in Christ's name.
Amen.
There is a poem that I think about often.
I don't know many poems,
but this is one of the few that I know.
It's one of my favorite quotes from John Bunyan.
It's not Paul Bunyan,
the big lumberjack with the big blue ox.
John Bunyan, the great Puritan.
It says this,
Run, John, run, the law demands,
but gives us neither feet nor hands.
Far better news the gospel brings.
It bids us fly and gives us wings.
Another version by Ralph Erskine.
It says it like this,
A rigid matter was the law,
demanding brick, denying straw.
But when with gospel tongue it sings,
it bids me fly and gives me wings.
Here's what it means.
The law, it makes demands,
but it provides no power to accomplish what it demands.
But the gospel provides both the power
and the capacity to live a life of godliness.
See, our capacity for godliness,
it does not come from us.
We can't muster up the strength to be godly.
We have no ability in ourself
to keep the law of God,
to please God on our own.
We have to look outward,
out of ourself.
That's called faith.
Looking outward,
out of yourself,
to find that strength.
You know, our passage this morning
begins with the word for.
You see that here in verse 11.
For the grace of God has appeared.
That word for is a connector.
It is connecting this passage,
our passage this morning,
to the passage right before it.
What Paul has just said right before it.
You know, sometimes we treat the Bible
like it's disconnected.
Like Paul somehow forgot
what he was saying last week,
and now he picks up
with some totally new thought this week,
and he's disconnected.
The Bible isn't written like that.
The Bible was written by people,
humans.
This book, Titus,
is a letter written by a person.
He was divinely inspired
by the Spirit of God, yes,
but he's a person
who uses words
in the same way that we do,
who uses thoughts
in the same way that we do,
who uses words to argue
in the same way that we do.
So when he says,
for the grace of God has appeared,
we know that he's given a reason.
He's given a basis,
an explanation,
a foundation
for what he has just commanded us
in our passage last week,
and we do this all the time.
Let's go get lunch,
for because I'm feeling hungry.
Let's go to bed,
for because I'm feeling tired.
Let's get dressed,
for because it's time
to go to church.
Paul has been building a case
here in the book of Titus
that faith accords
with godliness.
Christians should not,
like the Cretans were doing,
should not profess
to know God with our mouths,
but then deny him
with our actions.
If we say that we have received
new life in Christ,
but nothing is new
about our life,
Paul says something
is dramatically wrong.
And so Paul showed us last week
what godliness might look like
for us,
for every member of the church.
If you were here last week,
there was something
for all of us here
in chapter 2,
verses 1 through 10.
There was instructions
for old men,
young men,
older women,
younger women,
servants in the church,
and servants in the home.
Every single one of us
in Christ is called
to a life
that is distinct
from the world around us.
He gave us commands
last week.
But you may have left
last week wondering,
how do I do that?
How do I do that?
How could I possibly
live a godly life?
What's the basis
or the power
or the motivation
for living a life
like this?
Hopefully you didn't,
but you may have left
last week discouraged,
feeling like I could
never live up
to what Paul has described
here in verses 1 through 10.
So this morning,
Paul brings you good news.
He says,
for the grace of God
has appeared.
Last week he bid us fly,
this week he gives us wings.
And we should take note
here this morning
that this is distinctly different
from every other religion
in the world.
Every world religion
gives commands.
Every religion
gives instructions.
Every religion
has expectations.
No other religion
gives the power
to do it.
Every other religion
says,
hey, here's how you
get to our God.
Here's how you do it.
Good luck.
Earn it.
Do it.
Do better.
Try better.
Work harder.
Be better.
Be the best you can be
and maybe,
hopefully,
you'll make it.
Church,
we need to know
that's not how
Christianity works.
The gospel says
God saves.
God calls.
God trains.
God redeems.
God justifies.
God sanctifies.
God preserves.
God sustains.
God purifies.
God glorifies.
God.
God is about God.
And with that confidence
and that dependence
upon God,
we pursue godliness
as his children.
As his children.
No other religion
in the world
says anything
close to that.
Our passage
this morning,
it roots all
of our efforts
for godliness,
all of our pursuit
of the Lord,
all of our striving,
all of our labor
in the good news
of what God has done
and what God has promised
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
This gospel
is the motivation
and the power
for godly living.
So Paul gives us
two life-changing truths
here in our passage
this morning.
Two life-changing truths.
This is our outline
this morning.
If you're taking notes,
I encourage you
to follow along
this way.
This is our motivation
and our power
for godliness.
Two life-changing truths.
Christ has come
and Christ will come again.
Two life-changing truths.
If we understand
these two truths,
we will pursue
a life of godliness
here in the present age.
Two truths.
Christ has come
and Christ will come again.
First,
Paul says,
live this way,
be godly,
pursue godliness.
Why?
What's the basis
of our pursuit?
Verse 11,
he says,
for the grace of God
has appeared.
And so he says,
be holy,
pursue godliness,
for,
because,
here's the basis,
because Christ has come.
See,
Paul is looking backwards
to what we call
the incarnation of Christ.
He's talking about
the first coming
of Jesus.
The incarnation
of the son of God.
Christians,
we don't believe
that Jesus was just
another man,
just another good teacher,
just another religious figure.
We believe that
just over 2,000 years ago
a miracle happened.
The son of God
became man.
And Paul says,
your holiness now,
today,
in this present age,
is only possible
because of something
that happened
2,000 years ago.
But why is that?
What is it,
specifically,
about this event
2,000 years ago
that's still
transforming lives
today?
Look with me
to verse 11.
It is interesting,
isn't it,
that Paul is talking
about the coming
of Christ,
but he doesn't say
Christ has appeared,
does he?
What does he say?
The grace
of God
has appeared.
The grace
of God
has appeared.
The first
coming of Christ
is synonymous
with the appearing
of God's grace.
Of course,
God's grace
has appeared
all throughout
the Old Testament.
This isn't the first
time we see
God's saving power,
God's grace
appearing here.
God has graciously
promised and called
and redeemed Israel.
He's made
gracious promises
to Noah
and Abraham
and David
all throughout
the Old Testament.
His grace is
all over every page.
But the appearing
of Christ
is the clearest
and most spectacular
appearing
of the grace
of God.
This isn't just
grace extended
as it was
in the Old Testament,
this is grace
embodied
in the person
of Christ.
Now,
at risk of
overstatement
here,
there may not be
a more easily
misunderstood,
quickly polarizing,
toxically abused
doctrine
than the doctrine
of God's grace.
Now,
it is important
that we get this
right.
And one of the reasons
why I love
the Apostle Paul
is he is all the time
correcting
our misunderstandings
of God's grace
and showing us
how to live
in light
of that grace
of God
for the glory
of God.
So look with me
again at verse 11
and we see two functions
of God's grace
here in this verse.
Two functions
of God's grace.
Grace saves
and grace trains.
Grace saves
and grace trains.
He says here,
verse 11,
the grace of God
has appeared
bringing salvation
for all people
and training us
to renounce
ungodliness
and worldly passions
and to live
self-controlled,
upright,
godly lives
in the present age.
See,
you gotta have both here.
You can't have
just one.
God's grace
came saving
and God's grace
came training.
Paul says,
grace came
bringing salvation
for all people.
That promise
that God made
to the Jews
in the Old Testament,
I will be your God
and you will be
my people
is now through Christ
extended to all peoples
of the earth.
That's good news
for us Gentiles,
right?
Amen?
On the basis
of Christ's perfect obedience,
his sacrificial death
on the cross
in our place,
in the place of sinners,
his victorious resurrection
from the grave
received by grace
through faith,
all people can be saved
from the condemnation
and the eternal damnation
earned from their sin.
Now,
not every individual
will be saved.
When he says,
grace came bringing salvation
for all people,
don't get hung up there.
That doesn't mean
that every individual person
will be saved.
only those who hear
the good news of Christ,
only those who hear
the words of the gospel
and respond with saving
faith and repentance
in Christ Jesus
will be saved.
He's not saying
all people will be saved.
What he's saying here
is that there are
no ethnic,
racial,
social,
regional,
political limitations
on the grace of God.
God.
This grace is made available
to all the peoples
of the earth.
And so we pray
every Sunday morning.
We pray.
Not just for what's going on
here in Allendal,
not just for what's going on
in South Carolina.
We pray every week
for the nations.
And you might notice,
often we pray
for a people group
in a specific nation.
A people group.
We prayed last week
for the people of Macau.
And specifically,
in Macau,
we prayed for the people group
the Hui people group.
The Hui people group.
They're a frontier people.
That means that
they have never heard
the gospel.
They have zero access
to the gospel.
To our knowledge,
no one from the people group,
the Hui people group,
have ever heard
the name Jesus.
And they have zero access
to it on their own.
So someone must go.
The word must come to them.
They'll perish without it.
I don't know
how many people
God will choose to save
from the Hui people group.
But I do know
that every tribe,
tongue,
and nation
will be gathered
around the throne
of God in glory.
He's promised us that.
That's what grace accomplished
in the first coming of Christ.
And so we pray.
And so we send missionaries.
So we support
missionary efforts.
So we proclaim the gospel
in every corner of the earth
with the confidence
that God will do
what he's promised.
He will save
all the peoples
of the earth.
That's what Paul's saying here.
Christ came.
The grace of God came
bringing salvation
for all the peoples
of the earth.
So we can say it like this.
Not every person
will be saved
without distinction.
No, excuse me.
Run that back.
Not every person
will be saved
without exception,
but all peoples
will be saved
without distinction.
Say that again.
Not every person
will be saved
without exception,
meaning all peoples
are saved,
but all peoples
will be saved
without distinction.
even you.
Even me.
Here's what this means
for us, church.
No one in this room
can say,
man, I wish I could get in
on that saving grace of God,
but I don't qualify.
Christ's perfect life,
not for me.
His sacrificial death,
not for me.
I'm too old.
I don't fit the criteria here.
I'm too poor.
I don't fit the criteria here.
I vote this way.
I act this way.
I come from this background.
I've done this.
I've done that.
I'm addicted to this.
I'm addicted to that.
Whatever the excuse may be,
church,
grace by definition
is undeserved.
The very definition
of grace
means you don't fit
the criteria.
The only criteria here
is that you know
you don't deserve
what God is giving to you
in Christ.
You cannot earn His grace
or it's no longer grace.
I shared this example
with someone the other day
trying to explain this to them.
This is like if a child
does something they know
they shouldn't do.
Okay, this is my life.
All right?
This is where my mind goes
with illustrations.
Y'all bear with me.
The parent saw it
the whole way up and down.
They know there's no denying it.
Something wrong has happened.
The child knows
that they deserve punishment.
They know that they've messed up.
They've been caught in the act.
But as an act of mercy,
the parent says,
I will withhold
the punishment you deserve.
That's mercy.
Withholding what you deserve.
Mercy, you don't get
what you deserve.
But grace goes a step further
than that, doesn't it?
Grace says,
I saw what you did.
I know you deserve punishment.
But instead,
I'm going to give you
the biggest slice of cake
I can fit on this plate.
I'm going to reward you
as if you had obeyed perfectly.
You deserve punishment,
but instead,
you get a big old slice of cake
because I love you.
I'm going to reward you
as if you never did anything wrong,
as if you're absolutely perfect.
That's grace.
Mercy holds back
what you do deserve,
namely punishment
for your sin.
Grace gives you
what you could never deserve.
The blessing
and the favor of God.
Salvation from our sin
and eternal life
in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.
God's grace saves.
But not only that,
we don't stop there.
God's grace trains.
Look to verse 11 again.
He says,
The grace of God
has appeared,
bringing salvation
for all people
and training us
to renounce ungodliness
and worldly passions
and to live self-controlled,
upright,
and godly lives
in the present age.
See,
the grace of God
came saving
and the grace of God
came training.
You can't have one
without the other.
This is what we've been seeing
all through the book of Titus,
isn't it?
If you have been given
the gift of salvation,
you have been enrolled,
enlisted,
you have been given
the gift of sanctification.
And that pace
and that progress
may look different
from person to person,
Christian to Christian,
but the trajectory
is the same.
Everyone who's been saved
by grace
will be trained by grace
for godliness
in the present age.
In other words,
Jesus Christ
did not just come
to save you
and leave you
as you are.
Jesus Christ
came to save you
and to change
who you are.
He did not come
to save you
and leave you
as you are.
Come as you are
to Christ
and expect
that he will transform you
from the inside out.
You will not be the same.
Jesus Christ
did not come
just to save you.
He came to transform you.
That change process,
it begins
the moment
you put your faith
in Christ,
but that's not the end
for us, Christian.
It continues all the way
until either we die
or Christ returns.
Your coming to faith
in Christ
was the beginning
of your Christian walk.
It's not the end.
It's the beginning.
We've all been enrolled
in a lifelong training program
called sanctification.
That means you are
being made holy.
We've not arrived, church.
There are parts of you
and there are parts of me
that need changing.
Praise God,
by his grace,
he's doing it.
Do not buy cheap grace
that saves
but does not train.
Christians are those
who, because of God's saving grace,
welcome God's training grace
in their lives.
And so we say things like,
I'm struggling
with this particular sin.
Can you help me?
Will you pray for me?
I can't seem
to put this to death.
I'm wrestling
with this in my life.
I can't seem
to understand it
but I know God
is at work in me.
He's working in me
through this.
He's training me.
Christians depend
on God's grace
to save
and his grace
to train.
We don't say things
like,
I'm good
just the way I am.
Thank you.
I don't need any help.
Thank you.
No change needed here.
I'm fine.
I said my prayer
when I was 10
and that's it for me.
Now I check out
and I just got
the free pass to glory.
I'm good.
Thank you.
No.
No change needed here.
One sign
that God's grace
is at work in you
is that you begin
to realize
how much you need it
every day.
Every day.
you begin to depend on it.
You want more of God
not less.
You want less of sin
not more.
You begin to realize
that by God's grace
not on your own strength
and not on your own effort
not your own grit
but by God's grace alone
you can say no to sin.
Church, that's a miracle.
And you want to do it.
By God's grace alone
you can say no to anger.
By God's grace
you can say no
to drunkenness.
You can say no
to sexual addiction
to pornography.
You can say no
to gossip
and to slander.
You can say no
to divisive behavior.
You can say no
to laziness
or gluttonousness.
You have been rescued
from slavery to sin
and now are being trained
in godliness.
So we pursue it
by the grace of God.
God.
If you want to grow
in godliness
remember
Christ has come
to save
and to train.
But not only that
second
remember Christ
will come
again.
The second life
changing truth
here in our passage.
Christ has come
and Christ
will come
again.
If we want to be
moved and
motivated
toward godliness
we not only
look backwards
to what Christ
has done
we must also
look forward
to what's
to come.
Christ
will come
again.
Look with me
to verse 13.
Verse 13 here.
Paul says
we are to live
self-controlled
upright
and godly
lives
in the present
age
waiting
for our
blessed hope
the appearing
of the glory
of our great
God and Savior
Jesus Christ.
If you write
in your Bibles
I want you to
take a pen
and mark
these two things
down here.
If you're using
a pew Bible
go ahead and
write in that one
too.
That's okay.
Next person
can see this note.
I want you to
circle up
in verse 11
where it says
the grace
of God
has appeared
and then again
down in verse 13
where it says
the appearing
of the glory
of our great
God and Savior
Jesus Christ.
See these
these two
appearings
are everything
for us.
We have the
first appearing
the first coming
of Christ
appearing
bringing salvation
for undeserving
sinners
and then the
second coming
of Christ
the appearing
of the glory
of God
our risen Savior
who will come
and will finish
what he came
to do.
See our lives
are lived here
in the middle.
We're stuck
in the middle
between these
two comings.
We live in
between the two
advents of Christ.
That's the present
age that Paul
is talking about
here in verse 12
and so to live
godly lives
in this present
age here in the
middle.
Christians are
those who are
constantly looking
backwards to
the first coming
of Christ
looking backwards
to the first
appearing of
God's grace
grace embodied
and we are
looking forward
constantly in
hope of the
coming of
Christ the
appearing of
the glory of
God.
I remember
when I was
younger I'd be
willing to bet
I'm not alone
in this.
I was taught
that before you
cross the street
you need to
what?
Look both ways.
Yeah.
And sometimes
I'd even tell me
hey look that way
and then look that
way and then hey
you need to look
that way again.
Something might have
changed.
You gotta look
both ways.
And then you can
safely take a step
forward.
But it was clear
you don't just go
stepping without
looking.
And that's a recipe
for disaster.
You have to look
both ways before
you can safely
take a step
forward.
That's what Paul
is saying here.
Christian before
we can take a
single step
towards Christ
likeness.
Before we can
take a single
step towards
godliness.
We can't do it
without looking
both ways.
To the grace
of God that
has come and
to the glory
of God that
is to come.
If you want
to take a step
forward in
godliness
this is where
you look first.
first.
Then you can
take a step.
Then you can
safely progress.
Paul says here
in verse 13
he says we are
waiting for our
blessed hope.
We are waiting
for his coming.
We are waiting.
Christians by
definition are a
waiting people.
And I know I'm
not the only one
in the room who
doesn't like to
wait.
Amen?
But this isn't
waiting like you
wait for a hurricane.
I don't think I
was the only one
my wife and I
who stayed up
Thursday evening
watching the
radar waiting
waiting
when is he
going to get
here?
What's he
going to do?
Woke up Friday
morning wind
rain
check the radar
again check the
forecast waiting
is it going to
get worse?
Is it going to
do more damage?
What kind of
destruction is this
going to bring?
We don't wait
like that for the
coming of Christ.
Christ.
Unbelievers ought
to wait like that
for the coming of
Christ.
But for us in
Christ this is a
hopeful waiting.
It is a hopeful
waiting.
Not wishful waiting
it is the Christian
hope.
The Christian hope
is certain.
This is good news.
Christ will return.
Christ will accomplish
what he set out to
accomplish.
Christ will finish
what he began in
you and we are to
wait for it with
patience and the
Bible says with
eagerness.
You know one of the
most common ways
that the Bible talks
about the second
coming of Christ
is eagerness.
I want to take you
to just a few
passages here.
You can mark this
down for later.
Eagerness.
Are you eager for
the return of Christ?
Romans 8 23
says not only the
creation but we
ourselves who have
the first fruits of
the spirit grown
inwardly as we
wait eagerly for
our adoption as
sons.
The redemption of
our bodies.
You hear that word?
Eager.
Galatians 5 5 for
through the spirit
by faith we
ourselves eagerly
wait for the hope
of righteousness.
That's what we're
waiting for.
The hope of
righteousness is
coming.
Are we are we
eager for it to
come?
Hebrews 9 28
So Christ having
been offered once
to bear the sins
of many that's
his first coming
Christ Christ came
to save grace
appeared to save
to bear the sins
of many will appear
a second time not
to deal with sin but
to save those who
are eagerly waiting
for him.
See we are eagerly
waiting our final
salvation the
fulfillment of what
he came to do.
This is a joyful a
happy and eager a
hopeful a joy filled
waiting and it's it's
difficult not because
we dread what's coming
but because we cannot
wait for it to get
here.
I saw on the news
again as I'm sure
many of you did there
were people stranded
in Florida because of
the hurricane out
standing on the top
of their cars waiting
for help to come.
Christian are waiting
as if we were were
stranded here waiting
for deliverance to
come.
Knowing it has been
promised knowing knowing
he's kind of he's
going to come he's
going to arrive we
don't know when we
don't know at what
moment he'll be here
but he will come he
will come he will
rescue us he will
come and so we wait
with eager anticipation
how eager are you for
his return.
Does it consume your
thoughts and influence
your actions you know
if we if we really set
our our minds and our
thoughts and our hearts
there thought hard had
our hearts full of
longing for this this
return of Christ I'm
certain there would be
an explosive difference
in the way we go about
our lives.
see our holiness is fueled
by our eagerness not only
is this a hopeful waiting
it is also a holy waiting
our holiness this holiness
that that Paul is calling
us to it's fueled by
eagerness waiting longing
looking anticipating the
return of Christ we've
already spent time here so
I won't belabor the
point but it's clear Paul
he's bringing it up again
here and he reminds us
again in verse 14 of why
Christ came what Christ
came to do look at verse
14 says he gave himself
for us to redeem us from
all unlawing it from all
lawlessness and to purify
for himself a people for
his own possession to save
you and to change you to
make you holy to to redeem
you and to purify you those
he came to save he promises
to purify so that we would
profess to know him with our
mouths and adorn the doctrine
of God with our actions and
so our time of waiting now
church is a time of being made
holy he will not leave you as
you are two main ways that
this happens in our lives one
is what happens to us I'll
tell you something that you
already know that terrible
things happen to everyone in
this life believer non-believer
tall short rich poor all of us
suffer in this life becoming a
Christian will not protect you
from suffering quite the
opposite but what a difference
it makes for us in Christ to be
able to to look ahead and to
know and to remember that Christ
will return that he's coming to
make all things right that we may
not understand and and may not
quite grasp what God is doing but
we know that God is at work that
he's using every trial in the
present age to prepare his
people for glory for the
believer in Christ God is using
every second every every
moment every trial that we
endure to purify you in Christ
and to prepare you for eternity
with him so Christians we
believe that all of our lives
every moment is ordained by God
for our good and for his glory he
is purifying us for himself and
what this means Christian is that our
trials are not meaningless God is at
work your sickness is not meaningless
your suffering is not meaningless your
struggle is not meaningless God is at
work I know there are are many in our
church family who are are struggling
with all sorts of of sickness all
sorts of loss all sorts of of
suffering if you are in Christ you are
walking through purifying fire God is
preparing you for the glory to come are
you paying attention are you looking for
what he's doing in you the second way
that we grow in purity the second way
that we grow in holiness in this
present age is by our own active
pursuit of it by our own active
pursuit of it by the grace of God God
gives us the desire to grow gives us
the desire to pursue him and so we take
it upon ourselves to commit to pursuing
him through the ordinary means of grace
Bible reading prayer confessing sin
corporate worship gathering with other
saints together committing to to walk
alongside other believers this is what
D.A. Carson calls grace driven effort I
love this quote from D.A. Carson he says
this people do not drift towards holiness
apart from grace driven effort people do
not gravitate toward godliness prayer
obedience to scripture faith and delight
in the Lord we drift toward compromise and
call it tolerance we drift toward
disobedience and call it freedom we
drift toward superstition and call it
faith we cherish the indiscipline of lost
self-control and call it relaxation we
slouch toward prayerlessness and delude
ourselves into thinking we have escaped
legalism we slide toward godlessness and
convince ourselves we have been liberated
you know another way we misunderstand the
grace of God is to say we don't have to do
anything it's all of God it's all God's
grace I can sit back and relax I don't
need to to pray I don't need to open my
Bible I don't need to share my faith I
don't have to pursue godliness that sounds
a lot like the Cretans doesn't it that
sounds a lot like the error here in Crete no
God's grace empowers your pursuit of
godliness God's grace is what undergirds and
empowers all of your efforts to please him it
is God who works in you to will and to work for
his good pleasure church you will not grow in
godliness apart from grace driven effort
let's not deceive ourselves church if we are
not pursuing godliness we are not neutral
and we will not drift towards holiness our
natural drift is away from the Lord I'll tell
you I tend to drift more towards television
easier than I drift towards opening my Bible
I'll be honest with you I drift more towards
looking at my phone than I do towards prayer
it's discipline it's grace driven discipline
that will will bring about the change that we
need to see in our lives as we pursue the Lord
together how can you grow in grace driven effort
what are some areas of of of slack that we can shore up
this week with grace driven effort it is hopeful it is holy and finally one more
here this is a helpful waiting this is to be a a helpful waiting
Paul says he gave himself to redeem us to purify for himself a people for his own
possession who are zealous for good works this is one of the effects of God's grace in us he makes a
people who are zealous for good works in other words Christ Christ came to create a people who share
and extend the heart of God to others and while we wait for Christ to return we're not sitting on
our hands and and biding our time and watching the the minutes on the clock roll by we are to be actively seeking ways to do good works to be helpful
to be helpful
now Christians ought to care more about doing good works than anybody else in the world
and we ought to expend ourselves more for the good of others than anyone else in the world not because we earn God's favor by our good works
but because as we experience the life-changing grace of God in our lives as we experience his goodness towards us in Christ we can't help but extend that same grace and love and kindness to others around us
we are saved by faith alone as Martin Luther says but the faith that saves is never alone
have you heard that quote before we are saved by faith alone but the faith that saves is never alone he means it's always accompanied by good works
Christ came to create zealots for good works those who are passionate about about extending the heart of God to others
church Christ will return and he will reward every good work done for his glory in the present age and so we we live every day in the present age in light of that coming day when Christ will appear
and the glory of God will be made manifest
one practical thing for us to pray I think this week
Lord make us zealous for good works
it's a dangerous prayer but I encourage you to pray
Lord make me zealous for good works show me what the needs are around me show me how I can love my neighbor as myself
show me how I can be selfless show me how I can how I can exhibit the love of Christ towards others this week
let me show the power of your grace by my godliness and by my good works
let our light so shine before others
that they may see our good works and give glory to our father who is in heaven
amen
the book of Titus
calls you
Christian
to be distinct
not just in our pursuit of godliness but in the basis of our pursuit
we don't seek to earn our way to God by our goodness
our chances of earning God's approval
earning God's pleasure do not change one decimal point with our holiness
with our self-improvement rather we rest on the good news of the gospel
run John run the law demands but gives us neither feet nor hands
far better news the gospel brings which bids us fly and gives us wings
see our salvation
and our sanctification are found in the fact that Christ
has come
the grace of God
has appeared and our
our certain hope of glory
our hope that that Christ will accomplish what he came to do is found in the fact that
that God's glory is coming
the second coming
of Christ
all of grace
church
we're going to stand
and sing in just a moment a hymn that
I know is familiar
that's everyone in the room
we've probably sung this a thousand times
before but I want you to consider these words as we sing them
don't let it just be routine
repetition
let it be worship
worship him for the truths of what we sing
amazing grace
how sweet the sound
grace
that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I'm found
was blind
but now I see
grace saving
grace redeeming
grace rescuing
it was grace that taught my heart to fear
and grace my fears relieved
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed
grace training
grace teaching
grace comforting
grace assuring
through many dangers
toils and snares
I have already come
the
tis grace that brought me safe thus far
and grace will lead me home
grace preserving
grace sustaining
grace
grace drawing us
bringing us all the way
through the trial
to
glory
when we've been there
ten thousand years
bright shining as the sun
we have no less days
grace to sing God's praise
than when we first begun
grace glorifying
grace exulting
in the glory of God
let's pray
father we praise you
for your grace at work in us
who believe
we praise you that
godliness is not
something that we could ever
dream up on our own
that our efforts though they're weak
lord
father we pray and we thank you
we praise you that you've provided
everything we need for life and godliness
through the gospel of Christ
and father if there are any
here who have not yet received that
saving grace we pray even now
that you would
you would call them draw them to
yourself
and for the rest of us lord we pray
for growth in godliness
for your glory
we ask in Christ's name
amen