Well, let me begin by thanking you for your very warm welcome and apologizing for my insufficiently exotic accent.
! I am coming to you from Jackson, Mississippi, but I'm not from Jackson, Mississippi, but isn't it an encouragement? I hope it is
to know that you have brothers and sisters on the other side of the world praying for you this weekend
and trusting in the same Savior and rejoicing in the same good news.
Now, if you would turn with me once more to Titus chapter 2 and to the portion of Scripture that was read just a few moments ago,
we're going to focus our attention on verses 11 through 14.
Paul has, in the first half of this chapter, exhorted through Titus, or taught Titus how he is to exhort,
the Christians in Crete in a life of godliness, and he addresses different segments of the congregation,
younger men and older men, older women, younger women, slaves, even Titus himself.
And now in this second half of the chapter, Paul points us to the grace of God
by which we are enabled to live a life that is well-pleasing in his sight.
Here's the secret of living in practical Christian obedience, the secret of living God's way.
Paul describes it in five ways, five things he says that grace does.
First, he says grace appears in verse 11.
Then he says grace offers in the second part of verse 11.
Thirdly, grace trains in verse 12.
Fourthly, grace expects.
That's verse 13.
And finally, grace redeems.
In verse 14.
So these are the five things we're going to think about tonight.
Five things that grace does.
This is how grace works in the lives of all who receive it.
Grace appears.
Grace offers.
Grace trains.
Grace expects.
And grace redeems.
Before we look at those five things, would you bow your heads with me again as we ask for God's blessing on his word.
Let us pray.
O Lord, our God, your word is now open before us.
Our hearts are open before your gaze.
We ask for the presence and blessing of the Holy Spirit.
As we read it, as we meditate upon it, granted we may hear a voice behind us in our ears saying,
this is the way, walk in it.
Indeed, may it be that some who are dead in their sin might hear tonight the voice of the Son of Man and live.
Do all this by this portion of your word for the glory of your name.
Amen.
Titus chapter 2 at verse 11.
This is God's word.
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.
Amen.
Let's look at verse 11 first of all.
And the first thing that grace does.
Grace, Paul says, appears.
Verse 11.
For the grace of God has appeared.
That word appeared is important.
We get our English word epiphany from the Greek word translated here as appeared.
An epiphany is a revelation, a disclosure, an unveiling.
If you have an epiphany, you suddenly come to realize something you had not seen before.
It's used in the New Testament, especially to describe either the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
in his incarnation, his virgin birth, his life and death and resurrection,
or with respect to his final return at the end of the age, he will appear again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
Back in 2 Timothy 4, verse 8, Paul spoke about those who love Christ's appearing,
talking about Christians characterized by a longing to see the day when the clouds will part and the trumpet will sound and the Savior will come.
These are his epiphanies, his appearings.
There are two.
His first appearing, his first epiphany, when he was born of the virgin and laid in a manger.
And there is an epiphany still to come when he comes in glory.
And both of those epiphanies are actually here in this passage, aren't they?
The first is the epiphany of grace in verse 11.
And the second we'll come to later on in verse 13 is the epiphany of glory.
The appearing, the epiphany of the grace of God in verse 11 is, of course, talking about Jesus' first coming.
His virgin birth, his earthly life, his ministry, his sufferings.
And the epiphany of glory, verse 13, is our blessed hope, the final advent of our great God and Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ at the very end of the age.
And so right now, Paul says Christians are living between those two appearings, these two poles,
between his first and his final return.
In what verse 12 calls this present age.
Crucially, the first appearing, the first epiphany, the incarnation, the first coming of Christ is the epiphany of grace.
That means it is grace that characterizes this present age in which we are currently living.
Paul might have said here, the Christ of God appeared.
Or he might have said the Son of God appeared.
But what he actually said is the grace of God has appeared.
In his first coming, it was not the wrath of God that appeared.
It was not the condemnation of heaven that appeared.
It wasn't the final reckoning that appeared.
When Mary was delivered of a baby boy and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in the manger,
it was the grace of God that appeared.
And from that moment on, this present age has been the age of grace.
It's not yet the age of glory.
It will one day be when our Savior comes.
That has not yet appeared.
But this is the age of grace.
The grace of God has appeared.
I wonder if you're sometimes tempted to have the wrong idea about Jesus.
Perhaps you think of him as stern and cold and aloof and distant and uncaring,
standing back from you with arms folded and a frown on his face.
That's not how Paul speaks about him here, is it?
He says, when Jesus came, grace appeared.
Grace embodied in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is all grace.
Grace for sinners.
Grace for strugglers.
Grace for sufferers.
Grace for you.
Grace appears.
That's the first thing that grace does.
Grace appears.
When Jesus stepped onto the scene, grace came.
And then notice the second thing that grace does.
Grace appears.
Secondly, grace offers.
Look again at verse 11.
The grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all people.
When grace appeared, salvation was brought.
And it is salvation, Paul says, that is for all people.
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
That means there is no class of human being excluded from the salvation Jesus came to offer.
Oh, but I'm not the kind of person that Jesus would invite to be saved.
Jesus is for other people, not for me.
No, the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
This salvation is for you.
But I'm not really all that terribly religious.
I don't have a church background.
I've not read the Bible.
Salvation can't be for me.
What does Paul say?
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
There is no qualification to that statement.
This salvation is for you.
But you don't know what I've done.
What I've said, how I've lived.
You don't see the twisted thoughts of my heart.
My past is just one long litany of wretched rebellion.
I've been hateful.
I've been selfish.
I've been spiteful.
I've not been faithful.
I've not been pure.
I'm a drunk.
I'm a liar.
There's a long trail of wounded people and broken relationships behind me.
Jesus can't be for me.
I don't fit in around here.
The Word of God does not agree with you.
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
This salvation that Jesus brings is for you.
Jesus Christ is for you.
You're not too old to come to Jesus.
It's never too late for him.
You're not too young to come to Jesus.
You don't need to wait until you reach some imagined age of discretion before he'll welcome you.
You're not too bad to come to Jesus.
There is no sin, no amount of sin,
that can make him rescind his unconditional offer,
his free invitation to you.
Maybe this is your first time in the church for years.
This text says you are welcome to have Jesus for your Savior just as you are right now here tonight.
Without any other condition or prerequisite being met,
you can have him.
He offers himself to you.
Maybe you've been here every time the doors have been opened for decades.
But you know in your heart you've been living a lie this whole time.
You've been a terrible hypocrite,
praising his name with your lips
while worshipping at the altar of self.
Even now you can come to him.
This salvation is for you.
You'll find him ready and willing tonight
to save you.
Whoever you are,
you need to know you're not a special case.
You are not a special case.
You are not a unique exception to this rule.
The grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all people.
You can point to nothing in your circumstances
that will exempt you from Jesus' invitation.
Nothing that can excuse you
from the response it demands from you.
You cannot disqualify yourself for any reason
from the class of those to whom Jesus makes this offer.
I like the way John Rabbi Duncan,
the great free church missionary to the Jews in Budapest
in the 19th century, once put it.
He said,
the Christian gospel says to us all,
sir, you have no right to go to hell.
You cannot go there
without trampling on the Son of God.
That's part of the message here, isn't it?
Jesus has done everything needful.
Every provision for sinners like me and you
has been made in him
so that anybody, anybody who wishes
may come and have him and be saved.
And so there's no escaping the implications of this, is there?
There's no excuse
that will let you avoid the claims
and the summons of the gospel.
It goes out to all people.
The grace of God has appeared
bringing salvation for all people.
And that means you.
You must answer the summons.
You must accept this offer.
You have no right,
no excuse,
no justification
to validate refusal.
You can point to nothing
about yourself
or your background
or your environment
that will exempt you.
No, the Lord Jesus Christ himself
extends this invitation to you
to come to him
and to be saved.
To refuse, says Rabbi Duncan,
is to go to hell
trampling on the Son of God.
He, Jesus, as it were,
puts himself between you
and the gates of hell.
He's pleading with you
not to go there.
And so if you do
go there in the end,
after hearing his invitation,
you go there willfully.
You go there trampling
on the Son of God
in order to walk
through those dreadful gates.
And if I can say it kindly,
not only is that
the epitome of wickedness,
it's the height of folly
when tonight,
here,
Jesus offers salvation
that he came to bring
for all people.
Why delay?
What reason?
What valid excuse do you have
that you will stand before God
on the last day
and present to him
as your compelling case
for your rejection
of his Son
who shed his blood
that sinners might be saved
and then offers
that salvation to you?
And you said,
not today,
not now,
no thank you.
Grace appears,
grace offers.
Won't you accept
grace?
Grace appears,
grace appears,
grace offers.
Thirdly,
grace trains.
Look at verse 12, please.
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.
Now,
think about that word,
training.
The Greek word
translated in our English version
as training
means to instruct,
to teach.
our English word
pedagogy
comes from this Greek word.
If you talk about pedagogy,
you're talking about a classroom,
aren't you?
It evokes the picture
of a teacher
standing maybe
at a blackboard,
pupils in their desks
with their textbooks open,
scribbling down notes
as the teacher
imparts knowledge.
That is not at all
the picture
that Paul intends
when he says
that grace teaches,
instructs,
trains us.
It's not just about
the imparting
of knowledge,
information
like a teacher
in a classroom.
No,
when grace comes
into your life
through faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ,
the pedagogy of grace,
the teaching of grace
does much more than that.
No human teacher
can do in us
what grace does
when grace teaches us.
You see,
God's grace
actually forms us.
By his word
and spirit,
Jesus rewires
our appetites,
our desires,
he reprograms
our wills,
he empowers
our resolve
so that we begin
to follow
an entirely new course.
Earlier,
we heard the excuses
of someone
who might argue
that he's too bad,
too twisted,
too hopelessly
locked into sin
to be welcome
to come to Jesus
or be saved.
And I was trying
to press
the wide welcome
of verse 11
upon such a person.
Salvation,
Paul says,
is for all people.
But here,
do you notice,
here's the full extent
of the wonder
of the offer
and invitation
that Jesus
is making to us
when the most
twisted,
sin-enslaved
pagan
comes to Christ
and the grace
of God
that brings salvation
erupts
into their heart.
grace moves in,
as it were,
and begins
a renovation project.
We had a couple
in our church
back in Mississippi
who recently
purchased a new home.
But the situation
is a little unusual
because of their
unique circumstances
of both the buyer
and the seller.
An accommodation
had to be reached.
so that the old
owner
could stay
in the house
for,
I think,
maybe about a month
longer.
Well,
the new owners
actually began
moving all their
possessions in
and started painting
the walls
and renovating
the house.
It was,
I understand,
an entirely chaotic
experience
for everybody involved,
but I think it's
a good description,
actually,
of what is happening
in the heart
of everyone
who accepts
the offer
that grace makes
and comes to
embrace the salvation
Jesus brings.
The old
tenant
of sin
and self
still resides
at this address
in my heart.
but a new
owner
has taken
possession,
the Lord
Jesus Christ,
and he's already
moved in
and has begun
renovations
right away.
You might think
your sin is so bad
you can't come
to Jesus,
but what you need
to understand
is that it is
sinners
that he wants
to come
to him.
It is
not the
healthy
who need
a doctor,
but the sick.
I did not
come to call
the righteous,
but sinners.
You come
to Jesus
with your sin
intact.
You can't
come any
other way.
Try to
clean yourself
up,
you're just
spreading the
muck around.
That's all
you're doing.
No,
you come
to Jesus
guilty,
helpless,
and vile.
He wants
sinners to
come to
him,
and when
they do,
grace moves
in.
He moves
in and
begins a
renovation
project.
His grace
trains us
to renounce
the old
life and
to embrace
a new
life.
Notice how
it does
that.
Look again
at verse
12.
There's a
negative
turning away
from certain
things,
and a
positive
turning to
certain other
things.
Do you see
that in the
text?
Negatively,
Paul says,
grace trains
us to
renounce
ungodliness
and worldly
desires.
Ungodliness,
there is a
kind of
catch-all
term for
a life that
is oriented
away from
God,
lived in
opposition
to the
will of
God.
Worldly
desires,
on the
other
hand,
speak more
specifically
about the
deep
motivations
of the
heart.
They get
behind an
ungodly
life to
the hard
wiring that
drives it
along.
Ungodliness
is the
whole life.
Worldly
desires are
the roots
of ungodliness
in our
passions,
our lusts,
our longings,
our appetites.
And when
grace comes,
it enables
us to
turn from
that.
Not ever
yet this
side of
eternity,
perfectly,
and yet
really and
truly,
and more
grace helping
us.
We turn
from those
things.
We renounce
them.
That word
renounce,
by the way,
is important
for at
least two
reasons.
First of
all,
it tells
us this
turning away
from sin
is a
conscious,
purposeful
act.
He's not
talking about
some sort
of passive,
automatic
change.
When grace
breaks into
your life,
you will
change.
But that
change takes
place by
God's grace
renewing your
will in
such a way
that you
actively,
deliberately,
turn,
purposefully,
intentionally,
from your
sin.
It's not a
matter of
letting go
and letting
God.
It is a
determined
resolve,
a decision
you make
every day
and again
and again,
day by
day,
to say
no to
all of
that as
the temptation
comes,
as the
old habits
entice,
as the
muscle memory
that led
you down
into paths
of disobedience
kicks back
in.
You say
no purposefully,
decisively,
and you turn
your back
on the
old life.
And this
word renounce
is important
for another
reason.
The original
has a
connotation
of a
public,
open
decision,
an action
we take
with public
consequences.
Not just
a private,
internal,
known-only-to-myself
decision,
but one that
people can
see.
One
lexicon
translates it
as to make
manifest
not to
know.
So to
decide not
to know
that stuff
anymore
in my life,
but not just
to decide
not to know
it,
not to live
in it,
not to embrace
it,
but to make
it manifest,
to make
it clear
to other
people that
I have
made this
decisive
change.
Jesus uses
this word
in Luke
12 at
verse 9.
He says,
whoever denies
me before
men,
that's our
word,
whoever denies
me,
whoever renounces
me,
whoever makes
manifest that
he does not
know me
before men
will be
denied before
the angels
of God.
There's a
before men-ness,
a public
open,
obvious
component
to turning
from sin
to Christ
and to
new life
in obedience
to him.
How often
have you
made
private
resolutions
in the
quiet of
your own
conscience?
I'm just,
I'm never,
I'm never
going to do
that again.
And those
resolutions
haven't lasted
much longer
than the
end of
the
day,
have they?
But grace,
when it erupts
into our
lives,
brings a
change of
conviction,
a new
trajectory
that can't
be hidden.
It doesn't
just make us
want to do
the right
thing,
it empowers
us so that
we more
and more
do the
right thing
for the
glory and
praise
of God.
God.
And then
notice the
positive things
that grace
produces.
So the
negative
things are
ungodliness
and worldly
desires and
we renounce
them, but
there are
positive
things.
Instead,
we begin,
Paul says,
to live
self-controlled,
upright,
and godly
lives in
the present
age.
Self-control
is a key
word if you
read through
the letter
to Titus,
it comes
up again
and again,
especially in
the first
part of
this chapter
actually.
It's a
characteristic
mark of
a child
of God,
born again
by grace,
growing
self-control.
Martin Lloyd
Jones once
famously said
that so much
of our
trouble comes
from listening
to ourselves
instead of
talking to
ourselves.
That's
involved in
self-control.
Taking
yourself in
hand and
saying,
stop thinking
about that,
stop saying
that that
way,
embrace these
things,
whatever is
good,
whatever is
true,
whatever is
noble,
whatever is
praiseworthy.
Think on
these things.
Why are you
downcast,
O my soul?
You're talking
to yourself.
You're taking
yourself in
hand.
Self-control.
You're not
simply saying
that's just
the way I
am.
I can't
help it.
No,
self-control
is a mark
of a child
of God.
And
grace
produces
uprightness.
It shares
the same
root as
the word
for
righteousness.
It means
a life
of growing
conformity,
alignment
with God's
revealed will
in his
holy word.
You begin
to look
more like
Jesus
in gentleness
!
In
kindness!
In
purity!
In
sacrificial
service
and love.
And
then there's
godliness.
Godliness
is sometimes
translated
piety.
You love
his word.
You love
his praise.
You love
his people.
You hate
what he
hates and
you love
what he
loves and
you want
to be
more like
your
savior and
you want
to be
with his
people and
you delight
to take
his name
on your
lips.
It's
what grace
does in
our hearts.
And
here's the
thing.
This is
what Jesus
is offering.
This
isn't a
high bar
and he
says okay
here's my
standard.
If you
jump it
I'll meet
you on
the other
side with
grace.
No he
says this
is my
gift to
you
sinner.
Broken
down
wretched
guilty
ashamed.
You
just come
to me
and I'll
begin to
do this
in your
heart.
Who
wouldn't
want it
to have
the king
of kings
move in
and make
the broken
down
hovel of
my heart
into his
royal palace
renovating
me and
making me
new.
When
grace trains
us it's
not like a
royal marine
drill sergeant
when you
can't climb
the wall
and you
can't finish
the race
and he
gets in
your face
and screams
no no
no fail
but grace
doesn't do
that.
Grace
comes
instead
and
puts
strength
in your
weak
knees
and
feeble
arms
and
helps
you
put
one
foot
in front
of the
other
in
the
long
hard
road
of
obedience
to
your
savior.
Grace
appears
in person
as it
were
in the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
when he
first
came
and
so
grace
brings
salvation
for all
people.
Grace
offers
all of
this
to you
and
when
you
embrace
the
offer
grace
renovates
changes
trains
us
to
live
a
new
life.
And
fourthly
grace
expects
look at
verse 13
please.
Grace
appears
in Christ
it trains
everyone
it saves
and those
it trains
Paul says
are found
waiting
for our
blessed
hope
the
appearing
of the
glory
of our
great
God
and
savior
Jesus
Christ.
Here's
the second
epiphany
we talked
about
at the
beginning
do you
remember
the
first
epiphany
was his
first
coming
the
first
appearing
here's
the
second
appearing
the
second
epiphany
the
first
was the
epiphany
of grace
this is
the
epiphany
of glory
we
wait
Paul says
with eager
expectation
for the
appearing
of glory
because we
live
in the
grip
of
grace
Paul calls
it our
blessed
hope
he doesn't
mean a
feeling
in the
heart
of
hopefulness
the
blessed
hope
of a
Christian
is an
objective
thing
it is
the
coming
of
Christ
in
majesty
and
glory
to
bring
his
work
to
final
completion
and all
the
ransomed
church
of God
will be
saved
to
sing
forever
and to
sin
no more
!
sick
anymore
won't
it
be
wonderful
to
have
the
great
reunion
with
those
who
have
gone
ahead
of
me
the
saints
in
glory
who
are
waiting
won't
it
be
wonderful
when
the
grime
and filth
and
pollution
and
brokenness
and
rebellion
of a
lost
creation
will be
made
new
and
there
will
be
a
new
heavens
and
a
new
earth
that's
what
I
often
think
about
those
are
promised
to
Christians
as part
of our
blessed
hope
but
they're
not
the
center
of
it
not
the
focus
of
it
what
is
it
we're
waiting
for
not
the
great
reunion
as
glorious
as
it
will
be
not
the
final
end
of
sin
in
my
life
as
wonderful
as
that
will
be
not
the
new
heavens
and
the
new
earth
the
home
of
righteousness
as
breathtaking
as
they
will
be
what
is
our
great
hope
it
is
the
appearing
of
our
great
God
and
Savior
Jesus
Christ
whose
glory
will
shine
with
dazzling
majesty
and
fuel
our
songs
forever
don't
you find
it easy
as a
Christian
sometimes
to drop
your horizons
down
and down
until
they're
focused
actually
not
on
his
glorious
appearing
but
almost
entirely
on
yourself
so
if
you're
like
me
from
time
to
time
you
do
some
personal
inventory
you're
in the
trenches
!
battling
with your
sin
and
frustrated
with your
lack of
progress
you
measure
your
Christian
life
sometimes
people
ask you
tell me
about
your
soul
and
you
respond
by
talking
about
your
quiet
time
am
I
reading
my
bible
every
day
am
I
praying
am
I
seeking
God
every
day
those
are
good
and
right
and
proper
things
of course
they
are
but
Jesus
is
nowhere
in my
inventory
list
I'm
only
thinking
about
the
things
that
I
am
doing
the
boxes
that
I
am
taking
the
disciplines
that
I've
cultivated
where
is
Jesus
my
eyes
are
not
fixed
on
him
I'm
engaged
in
navel
gazing
have
you
been
navel
gazing
!
lately
this
text
is
their
eyes
to
the
hills
where
does
my
help
come
from
my
safety
comes
from
the
Lord
the
maker
of
heaven
and
earth
look
up
and
away
from
yourself
to
your
savior
look
with
longing
expectation
for
the
great
day
when
you
will
see
him
face
to
face
what
is
it
that
cousins
made
in
her
hymn
that
the
sands
of
time
are
sinking
putting
together
little
phrases
from
Rutherford's
letters
the
bride
eyes
not
her
garment
but
at
her
bridegroom's
face
I
will
not
gaze
at
glory
but
at
my
savior's
face
not
at
the
crown
he
giveth
but
at
his
pierced
hands
the
lamb
is
all
the
glory
of
Emmanuel's
land
our
eyes
will
never
leave
his
lovely
face
and
it
is a
mark
of
a
child
of
God
even
here
in
this
veil
of
tears
that
they
are
longing
to
see
him
waiting
for
the
appearing
the
epiphany
of the
glory
of
our
great
God
and
savior
Jesus
Christ
if
you're
navel
gazing
you're
looking
in the
wrong
direction
and
you
know
as
well
as
I
do
I'm
sure
that's
the
best
way
to
crash
I did
some
internet
digging
when I
was writing
this
sermon
and found
that the
United
States
National
Highway
Traffic
Safety
Administration
says
driving
at 55
miles
an
hour
while
texting
for
five
seconds
is
like
driving
the
length
of
an
American
football
field
with
your
eyes
closed
as
a
consequence
in
2024
more
than
3,000
people
lost
their
lives
because
of
distracted
driving
they were
looking
in the
wrong
direction
this
text
is
saying
if
you're
looking
at
yourself
more
than
you're
looking
up
and
away
from
yourself
to
Jesus
who's
coming
in
glory
is
our
great
and
blessed
hope
you're
looking
in
the
wrong
direction
do
not
be
surprised
if
you
crash
grace
appears
grace
offers
grace
trains
grace
expects
and
finally
grace
redeems
look at
verse
14
this
great
God
and
Savior
who's
coming
we're
waiting
for
is
the
one
who
gave
himself
for
us
Paul
says
he's
talking
about
the
cross
isn't
he
there
at
the
cross
the
son
of
God
loved
us
and
gave
himself
for
us
he's
inviting
us
back
to
Calvary
to
trace
with
him
the
blessings
that
flow
to us
from
Jesus
blood
shed
for
us
having
told
us
Jesus
brings
salvation
now
he
takes
us
to
its
very
source
the
spring
from
which
salvation
flows
look at
the text
first
Paul
says
he gave
himself
to
set
us
free
he
died
to
redeem
us
from
lawlessness
to
redeem
means
to
buy
back
and
to
set
at
liberty
a
slave
held
in
bondage
it's
a
striking
phrase
though
isn't
it
redeem
us
from
lawlessness
there
were
false
teachers
on
the
island
of
Crete
Judaizers
legalists
and
they
were
worried
that
Paul's
gospel
of
free
grace
led
to
lawlessness
they
thought
they
were
the
obedience
guys
and
Paul
was
the
one
all
this
grace
talk
is
dangerous
it's
going
to
undermine
obedience
but
Paul
says
here
when
grace
really
comes
when
salvation
erupts
into
your
heart
flowing
from
the
cross
of
your
dear
savior
comes
freedom
from
lawlessness
sometimes
we think
actually
lawlessness
is
freedom
don't
we
to
live
however
we
please
unconstrained
!
by
God's
law
but
maybe
you're
here
tonight
and
you've
learned
by
bitter
experience
that
living
life
on
your
own
terms
a
lawless
life
is
actually
a
life
of
slavery
and
bondage
empty
and
hollow
and
now
perhaps
at
last
you're
ready
for
freedom
free
indeed
having
been
redeemed
set
free
by the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
he
gave
himself
to
set
us
free
Paul
says
secondly
he
gave
himself
to
purify
us
again
think
about
these
Jewish
legalists
they
thought
the way
to get
pure
was by
external
observance
of the
ceremonial
law
of
Moses
but
Paul
says
back
in
chapter
one
of
this
letter
at
verse
15
whatever
ritual
purity
they were
claiming
for
themselves
their
hearts
still
remain
defiled
but
Jesus
blood
can
do
what
nothing
else
can
do
he
can
make
you
clean
really
clean
ritual
purity
external
religion
all it
can
do
is
make
you
look
the
part
it
can
never
touch
your
heart
but
Jesus
blood
Jesus
blood
will
make
you
truly
clean
at
last
a
clean
conscience
a
clean
heart
clean
hands
that
you
might
ascend
the
hill
of
the
Lord
and
have
fellowship
with
your
saviour
his
blood
can
make
the
foulest
clean
that's
what's
on offer
in the
salvation
Jesus
grace
brings
to
all
people
freedom
purity
thirdly
he
makes
us
treasure
verse
14
Jesus
gave
himself
to
redeem
us
and
purify
us
for
himself
a
people
for
his
own
possession
we
become
his
prized
possession
his
cherished
inheritance
His
treasure!
How deep
the
Father's
love
for
us
how
vast
beyond
all
measure
that
he
should
give
his
only
son
to
make
a
wretch
his
treasure!
Treasure!
When
you come
to know
the Lord
Jesus
he
does
not
simply
tolerate
you
he
doesn't
allow
you
in the
back
door
sit
in the
corner
you're
not
really
welcome
but
you're
in
you
become
his
precious
beloved
child
you're
his
inheritance
!
His
possession
that he
cherishes
he loves
you!
He loves
you!
You are
unspeakably
precious
to Jesus
Christ!
Freedom
purity
treasure
obedience
Jesus
death
makes
us
obedient
we've
already
talked
about
this
verse
14
he
died
to
make
you
zealous
for
good
works
do you
see
that
phrase
at
the
cross
Jesus
purchased
holiness
new
obedience
zeal
to
please
him
a
desire
to
live
for
him
!
is
all
in
the
gift
of
his
nail
pierced
hands
you
don't
stay
away
from
him
you
don't
hold
him
at
a
distance
you
don't
look
at
him
askance
wondering
if
he
could
ever
care
for
you
listen
to
his
invitation
come
to
me
you
who
are
weary
and
heavy
laden
I
will
give
you
rest
I
will
make
you
clean
the
grace
of
God
has
appeared
bringing
salvation
for
all
people
and
it
will
make
you
new
it
will
renovate
your
heart
it
will
change
you
forever
and
it
will
make
you
zealous
for
good
works
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
promises
to
stand
in
the
midst
of
his
people
that
means
he's
here
with
us
tonight
by
his
Holy
Spirit
and
he
has
been
pleading
with
you
to
do
business
with
him
to
come
to
him
in
repentance
maybe
for
the
first
time
maybe
anew
to
come
back
to
him
because
he
has
grace
for
you
may
God
give
you
grace
to
accept
his
invitation
let
us
pray
Lord
Jesus
we
bow
before
you
now
and we
bless
your
great
name
that
when
you
came
it
was
grace
that
came
not
wrath
not
judgment
not
yet
but
grace
that
came
grace
with a
wide
welcome
for the
least
and the
worst
grace
for us
may
!
may
glory. Psalm 136 in the Scottish Psalter, the second version of the Psalm, Psalm 136,
stanzas 1 through 6.
Praise God, for he is kind, his mercy lasts foray. Give thanks with heart and mind to God of God
all way, for certainly his mercies doer, most firm and sure, eternally. Psalm 136, stanzas 1 through 6,
and let's stand to sing.
The Lord, O Lord, praise ye.
For certainly his mercies doer, most firm and sure, eternally.
The Lord, O Lord, praise ye, whose mercy shall endure.
In what is only he, done born by his great power.
For certainly his mercies doer, most firm and sure, eternally.
Which God omnipotent, by might and wisdom high, the heaven and firmament,
take him, as we may see.
For certainly his mercies doer, most firm and sure, eternally.
To him who did a stage, this earth so great and wide, above the waters reached, making it to a height.
For certainly his mercies doer, most firm and sure, eternally.
And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God our Father,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore. Amen.
Thank you.