I'm going to come to a text with you at this very moment, and I
want to give you a fresh look into the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not in the gospel accounts, but
I want you to hear how one man who experienced the grace of
God, an unlikely candidate to be a follower of Jesus Christ, was
used to tell others how they can also become trophies of His
grace. And so if you do have a Bible in
your hands, maybe you don't look over to the person next to you.
I'm sure they'll be open to sharing in the book of Titus
chapter 2. In Titus chapter 2, we will read
in verse 11. Here's what the Holy Spirit says
in His 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 up 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.
I want to obey this command today in your presence by
declaring these things in your hearing.
The beauty of the Christian message is that it is so simple
to understand. In fact, it is so simple and
direct it actually offends some people.
It disturbs them for many reasons.
One of those reasons is because it's humbles the intellect.
The essence of what it means to be a believer is to be
understanding of one sin and realizing that there's nothing
within yourself that can grant you right standing before God.
It essentially calls you to surrender and trust in self you.
You cannot look to anything in your pedigree, in your family
heritage, in your performance. It's simply you looking at
yourself and determining I am a child of wrath, that if I look
to my left or to my right, I may seem like a good person, but if
I stand in the presence of God's moral perfection, I am doomed.
If He holds me according to His measure and His word and His
command, I will never be able to attain His acceptance.
And it's it's not that God places something on us that is
unrealistic because He is sadistic.
It's because His Holiness demands it.
He is the Creator of all things. He has determined every aspect
of our universe. And as imperfect as it is, He is
the originator, not the author of the imperfections.
We are the author of the imperfections in this life.
He's given us a choice from the beginning of time.
Will you continue to fellowship with me or go your own way?
Understand this, love has a choice and our parents chose to
walk away from him inheriting A fractured universe because of
our disobedience. And So what it means to become a
Christian from the beginning is understanding that I am not just
a Sinner, but I am an object of His wrath.
That as the judge of the universe, if He holds me to
account, I will have no chance to be deemed innocent.
And yet at the same time, I realized that in His great love
He extends a payment. He extends his hand of
fellowship, and He asks you in your humility to reach out as
though you're drowning in the ocean and receiving the rescue
that you desperately need. But here's what I want to make
mention of in the verses that we read.
For the grace of God in verse 11 has appeared.
It came 2000 years ago. It was prophesied about since
the beginning of time. And this book, though it is not
a science book, though it is not strictly a history book, it is a
book that defines redemptive history, where we went wrong,
how we continue to do wrong, and how God brought a remedy.
And so we know that from the beginning of time, God has
promised the human race that there would be a Savior to come.
I'm going to bring salvation. It has appeared.
We don't need to look anywhere else.
We don't have to guess. It already came and we're on
this side of the cross. You see how we're safe today is
we look back and we see what Christ has done and we believe
on that truth by faith, how they were saved before Christ as they
looked forward and they said, OK, there is someone coming who
is going to redeem us. I believe that it has appeared,
but notice this also. It has appeared bringing
salvation for all people. Salvation in Christ never
discriminates. It doesn't have a certain
category of wrongdoers that can never be accepted.
When Jesus Christ came to rescue sinners, He had every sin in
mind and He had every Sinner in mind.
And there's not one thing that anyone has ever done that
discounts them from actually being accepted in the Beloved.
It is for all people. And that in itself is an offense
to some. How is it that you can say that
so and so in history that has brought massacres to countries
and nations and societies? You're saying salvation is
available to them. Yes, it is, according to the
Bible. Or may you may think of people
you know personally that are undeserving of any grace, an
ounce of mercy. And yet the Bible says it's
available. And you may be even sitting here
looking at your own heart saying, brother, if you only
knew the corruption that I enjoy and the pain that I've caused
and the indifference in my heart towards the things of God, you
would question if I am worthy and I'm here to tell you're not
worthy. That's the point.
None of us are. All of us are equal in the sight
of God, and we're comforted by this truth that salvation is for
all people. Do you have salvation today?
Do you know for certain I am accepted?
My name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
I have a testimony. I was something.
I was someone, but Christ intervened and now I am
something and someone else. You don't have to do anything in
preparation to encounter the person of Jesus Christ.
Listen carefully. You don't become holy to be
accepted in Christ. You come to Christ so that he
can make you holy. That's the beauty of the gospel.
And that's why in part also it's offensive.
Again, there are many reasons why it's offensive, though the
the essence of the message is gorgeous.
It's beautiful, it's wonderful. Why are some people offended?
There's got to be something that I do.
There's some kind of contribution that I have to
make. There's something that I must
invest in in order for me to attain this.
And the whole message is no, you give up and you look to Christ.
But notice this salvation is not just this invisible ticket that
you inherit that one day will appear when you give your final
breath and you stand before the living God and say, well, on May
whatever day, 2000, whatever year, I gave my life to Christ
and here I am. My name is in the registry,
right? That's not salvation.
And Paul wants to clarify that because look at verse 12.
This grace that has appeared in verse 12 trains us to renounce
ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled,
upright and godly lives in the present age.
So here's what I want to tell you about this grace.
As wonderful as it is, as glorious as it is, as free as it
is, if you really accept it, if you really understand it and
apply your faith to it, it will change you.
It demands change. It transforms you.
Look at this. Look at this language verse of
it trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly
passions. You've heard many testimonies of
people here who are getting baptized saying I'm not perfect,
I'm not where I'm supposed to be, but here I am wanting to
obey Christ. Yes, that fits with what the
Bible says a Christian looks like.
It's not about immediate perfection once you profess
Christ, but it is about a miraculous instant
transformation of your heart direction.
Once you taste this grace, now you have this strength and this
motivation to say, I want to renounce this ungodliness.
I want to walk away from this sin.
I no longer want to live in enmity with God.
And it trains you, you, you develop in your understanding of
who he is, his beauty, his wonders, and that compels you
now to move away from sin more and more and more.
And here's the beauty of this verse.
He trains as a good trainer, is patient, doesn't give up on us
so easily, and when we understand who Christ is, he
walks with us in this journey the moment you confess Him, and
is committed to work in and through you until you meet face
to face. It trains us to renounce
ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled,
upright and godly lives in the present age.
Here's another thing to mention. Why are Christians different?
If a If a believer is truly a follower of Jesus Christ, there
is a difference between them and the world.
Those who do not profess Christ, can I tell you the true
motivation? If they really understand this
book, they really understand the will of God.
The reason why they don't go there or do this or act this way
is because of grace. It's the mercy of God, the
kindness of God, the long-suffering of God that
encourages and stimulates holiness.
Why do I do what I do? Because I am loved by Him.
Why do I do what I do? Because He first loved me and
now I can love him. That's the greatest force to
true holiness, to true conformity and transformation.
The Bible says it's grace. The love in his eyes, the wounds
in his hands and feet and the Pierce side.
That is the thing before me always that encourages me to
live for His glory. So if you're motivated by an
ungodly fear, the terror of being judged, Pascal's Wager, I
don't even know if this is really real, but just in case it
is real, I'm going to live religiously and and I'm not
going to lose if I do that, really.
So let me just do this. That's not the gospel.
The gospel is the grace of God has appeared.
You've accepted it. It's working in you and that is
the means for you to live a holy life.
But there's something else about this gospel in verse 13.
It doesn't just train you, it tells you to wait.
It encourages you for something to come.
Hasn't just appeared in the past on this side of the cross.
It also has a message for tomorrow.
Look at verse 13. Waiting for our blessed hope,
the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ. Where does it say in the Bible
that Jesus Christ is God? Well, there's one verse.
Memorize it. Christian.
Paul called Jesus our great God and Savior.
But notice that in the context of the Gospel, Christians who
really understand the message, the Christian message, have this
hope, have this inner awareness that yes, in the past Christ did
something for me. Yes, today he is working in me.
But there is something tomorrow that awaits.
What's the crescendo of the Christian life?
What's the climax of the Christian faith?
The appearing of Jesus Christ, the appearing of Jesus Christ.
And so when you collect the data in the Old Testament, especially
the literature that predicted Christ, then you understand that
the mission of God in the flesh is not just to come and judge
and rule and clean up this world, the mess that we made,
but it's also and primarily to clean you and me up, to cleanse
our hearts, to renew us. And that's why he came to die.
You know, He could have immediately come and establish
his rule in his reign, get rid of all of us and start all over.
He could have. Who says he couldn't?
But instead, he first comes to you and I as enemies of Him and
redeems us and makes us subjects of his Kingdom more than
subjects, servants in his Kingdom more than servants,
friends in his Kingdom more than friends, children adopted.
And he give. Think about this.
He gives us the privilege now, in this window of time in human
history, to operate as agents of hope and truth, ambassadors of
this Kingdom, to tell others, this is for you.
This is free. You can come in.
I'm not going to. I'm not going to have either.
Welcome to the club, and I want to tell you what it says here in
verse 14 as a final thought. 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.
It's almost as though he brings it full circle.
He talks about grace being manifest, us experiencing that
salvation, and then He almost clarifies what the salvation
entails. It delivers us from all
lawlessness, all not some lawlessness, all lawlessness,
and it purifies us unto himself. But here's the most beautiful
attribute of the salvation, a people for his own possession.
He owns us, which means, which means at least two things.
One, when you become a follower of Christ, you surrender your
rights, all of them. That's another reason why this
gospel is offensive. It demands everything of who you
are. It's not intellectual ascent.
It's not just you doing something on Sunday morning
instead of sleeping in. It's about you saying, if you
save me in this way, I gladly surrender everything,
everything. And it's not this begrudging,
slavish, defeat dragging way of life.
It's you entering into the reason why you exist to begin
with. So he owns you.
So everybody who is, who is baptized today, they made a
decision. I let go of my ambitions, my
dreams, my ideas of what's good, what's bad, my criteria, my
standards. And now I give everything to
Christ. He is my Lord.
He is the commander in chief of my brief existence on earth, and
I gladly do it. On what basis?
Because the grace of God has appeared not to reach for His
grace, not to win His affection. No, He already showed it to you
when your back was turned towards Him.
But it also means the second thing, a people for His own
possession. He owns you, yes, but He will
keep you. He will hold on to you.
He will never let you go. If you truly have repented and
believed on Christ, there shouldn't be a moment where you
doubt Him renouncing you. But what if I fail while you're
being trained? What if my heart grows cold?
You're being trained. What if I am a Lord and tempted
by things that hurt Him? He still owns you and He will
work in you day by day and moment by moment.
There might be moments where you look at yourself, say I don't
recognize myself in a good way, and there might be other times
where you say I'm ashamed of myself.
Either way, it does not change his ownership of you.
He is committed to your conformity.
He is committed to holding on to you and nothing snatching you
out of his hand. So again, the gospel is not
performance enhancement. It's not behavioral
modification. It's about you giving your heart
and your future to a good and gracious king.
And I like how Paul ends here. Yes, a people for his own
possession who are zealous for good works.
Why am I zealous like this little guy here?
Zealous because of this grace. I wonder if you know this grace
today. I'm not asking if you know it.
Theologically, Satan has the most accurate, robust theology,
and he will be tormented forever because of his rebellion.
Did you taste it? Is it real to you?
As I've been speaking the past 1520 minutes, could your heart
actually say Amen? I know what you're talking
about, preacher. Or is all of this foreign to
you? Is it alien?
Is it strange? Is it confusing?
Yet you understand the mechanics of it, You understand the core
message, but it doesn't resonate.
Can I ask you one more question and I'll end it here?
Do you sense a little conviction?
Is there something in you that says, I may not understand
everything fully, but I want it? There's this strange realization
that this is indeed true, or at least could be true.
May encourage you to do something.
Both visitor and frequent visitor.
We had people here say that they've sat in these pews for
months and years and not really understood it.
Do not turn off your conscience. Do not dismiss what may be
taking place in your heart. Like Brandon said, something
miraculous can happen the moment you just humble yourself.
That's it. You need a preacher to walk by
you. As valuable as I might be,
Christian friends and family, they can point us in the right
direction, but it ultimately boils down to this.
You humbling yourself and saying, Lord, if this is true,
show me. Lord, if this book is of you,
show me. Lord, if you truly love me, show
me. If you're willing to forgive me,
show me. Make this real to me and I'll
tell you he will. Let's pray.
Thank you, Father, for this incredible service.
Thank you for these precious Saints who stood before us
today, and more importantly, they stood before you.
Help us also leaving this place. Be bold and zealous for good
works. We pray even now that there
would be a fresh wave of revelation concerning your grace
for each of our lives. And Lord, we pray that this
Church, by Your grace, would continue to see salvations,
people coming to know you, people saying this grace has not
just appeared in history, it appeared to me and I'm changed
because of it. Lord, we ask that as we
celebrate our fellowship, you bless the food, that the joy
that's being realized in the hearts of those who made this
decision today would be shared in our hearts as well.
And Lord, for those who don't know you in this place, move in
their hearts. Every means possible was used
today to communicate truth. Your ordinances, songs,
preaching, people who have testimonies, only you can do the
work of conviction. And we pray that it would be
real today. Lord, we love you and we honor
you with all of our hearts. We give you praise for this
time. In Jesus name we pray, Amen and
Amen.