1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,040 Well, good evening, Christ Community Church. 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:05,680 I invite you to open up your Bibles in the book of Titus. 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:11,000 We're going to be in chapter 2, verses 11 to 14, Titus chapter 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:16,160 2, verses 11 to 14. First, before we start our 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,400 message for tonight, I just want to give thanks to the Lord for 6 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,880 bringing me here. I think Pastor Lance and the 7 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,920 rest of the elders, Roger, Tom and Esteban for giving me this 8 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,440 opportunity to be able to bring God's word into you. 9 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,360 My prayer is that whether your answer is yay or no, I will be 10 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,760 able to minister to you through this passage. 11 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,880 And I pick this passage because I think it's in line with the 12 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,160 strategy of the church. I love the strategy of of Christ 13 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:47,480 Community Church. It's our passion to pursue 14 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:52,520 Christ, priority to proclaim Christ, and it's our purpose to 15 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,480 proclaim Christ, priority to portray Christ. 16 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,560 And it's our practice of praise, praise Christ. 17 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,879 And that's a great strategy. And upon praying upon the text 18 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:08,600 that I'm going to use for tonight, I think it's going to 19 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,840 be in line with that. We're going to be learning about 20 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,920 the grace of God in Christ. And so this letter, of course, 21 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,480 is written by Apostle Paul to Titus. 22 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,520 And after being released from his imprisonment in Rome, and 23 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:30,400 that's around 8060 to 62, Paul started preaching the gospel and 24 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,240 started establishing churches there with a young man, Titus, 25 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,840 in this Mediterranean island called Crete. 26 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,960 And this island of Crete, their people are known for being lazy, 27 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:50,040 glutton, being liars. So they're basically the the 28 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:56,200 worst of evils of the world. And this sinful society 29 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:03,280 basically craves the backdrop for Paul writing to them, to 30 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,880 Titus. And Paul left titers there to 31 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:11,160 create, to basically continue the work of planting churches 32 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:16,080 there. And after 3-4 years after he 33 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:22,040 left Titus, Paul writes to this young pastor and he says in 34 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,320 chapter 1, verse five, that his purpose for writing is for the 35 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:30,960 reason that he left him there in Crete, that he, Titus, would set 36 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,880 in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as 37 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,720 Paul directed him. So Paul's purpose in writing is 38 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:45,120 to basically enable and empower Titus in establishing the 39 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,520 churches on that island and to appoint elders in those 40 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,560 churches. So we can see from this letter 41 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:56,240 that Paul's concern is to make the believers there and creed 42 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,960 understand and grasp the interconnectedness of sound 43 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:07,520 doctrine and sound living. So in chapter 1, verse 9, he 44 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:11,920 tells Titus to exhort the elders to hold fast the faithful word 45 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,800 which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be 46 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,200 able to both exhort and sound doctrine and to refute those who 47 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,040 contradict. In the same chapter, Chapter 48 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,960 one, verse 13, he instructs Titus to address those who are 49 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,880 rebellious as saying reprove them severely so that they may 50 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:34,880 be sound in the faith. And then in chapter 2, verse 51 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:39,160 one, Paul instructs Titus himself and he says, but As for 52 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,920 you Titus, speak the things which are fitting for sound 53 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,200 doctrine. And throughout the book, we can 54 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,440 see that Paul stresses the necessary and practical 55 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:55,600 outworking of salvation in the daily lives of those who are 56 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,200 elders and the rest of the believers in that congregation. 57 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:04,520 See, Paul stresses the need for Christians to live righteously 58 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:09,240 because of its impact upon the testimony and ministry of the 59 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,360 church towards the sinful society within Crete. 60 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,200 And this whole epistle is relevant to us with what's going 61 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:21,480 on in our country. And so in our passage tonight, 62 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:26,040 chapter 2, verses 11, Paul gives Titus the foundational truths 63 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,360 that drive his previous instructions in verses 1 to 10. 64 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,760 And after instructing all kinds of people in the church on how 65 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,920 to behave, he now in this passage points to God's grace as 66 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,520 the purpose and the reason why they need to submit to 67 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,840 instructions. And he uses the conjunction for 68 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,840 to make that connection. And so our passage reads. 69 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,400 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to 70 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:01,600 all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, 71 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:06,400 to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 72 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:09,680 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of 73 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,320 our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us 74 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,480 to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to preify for Himself 75 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,880 a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 76 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:29,120 And from this passage, I want to submit to you that God wants us 77 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:36,080 to grasp and to understand 3 realities about God's grace so 78 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,280 that we might be able to showcase the riches of that 79 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:44,560 grace through our lives. God wants us to rest three 80 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:50,000 reality realities about his grace so that our lives might 81 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,600 serve as a showcase of the riches of His grace, showcasing 82 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:59,760 3 realities about God's grace. And 1st, we will see the person 83 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,280 of God's grace from verse 11, the first half of verse 11. 84 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,400 And secondly, we will see the program of God's grace from the 85 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,480 second-half of verse 11 down through verse 13. 86 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:16,880 And then thirdly, we're going to see the people of God's grace 87 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,800 from verse 14. So the Pete, the person of God's 88 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:25,000 grace, the program of God's grace, and the people of God's 89 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,720 grace as showcasing the three piece of God's grace, the 90 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,800 person, the program and the people. 91 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:38,040 So let's look at the first one, the person of God's grace, verse 92 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,360 11, for the grace of God has appeared. 93 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,600 You see, grace is one of the attributes and perfections of 94 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,560 God. It's the special expression of 95 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:55,160 his kindness or goodness, and God's goodness is that quality 96 00:06:55,160 --> 00:07:00,760 of his essence wherein he makes his profoundly general 97 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,440 generosity seen in all of his creatures. 98 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:09,600 Grace, then, is God's disposition to show kindness to 99 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:14,600 and improve the quality of life or the well-being of those who 100 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:18,840 there who deserve the opposite, those who are unworthy. 101 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:24,320 Then Paul says God's grace has appeared or manifested itself. 102 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:30,160 But God's grace here is not lost, and it's not just an it. 103 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,320 And God's grace appeared in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 104 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:40,960 And Paul spells this out in verse 13 when he says that we're 105 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,720 looking for and anticipating for the blessed hope and the 106 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:49,080 appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus 107 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,120 Christ. So God the Son is God's grace 108 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,440 Incarnate. Christ is God's supremely 109 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:00,680 gracious favor and gift, the fallen mankind. 110 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:06,520 And Paul expounds on the identity of this grace Incarnate 111 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:08,560 in chapter 3, verses four to seven. 112 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:13,520 He says, but when the kindness of God our Savior and His love 113 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:18,560 for mankind appeared, He saved us not on the basis of deeds 114 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,800 which we have done in righteousness, but according to 115 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:28,480 his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the 116 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,159 Holy Spirit. And here it comes, verse 6, whom 117 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:37,000 He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 118 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:41,919 so that being justified by His grace, we would be made heirs 119 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:44,280 according to the hope of eternal life. 120 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:49,160 And the apostle John gives the same testimony when he says in 121 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,960 John chapter 1 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 122 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:59,520 and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the 123 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:05,800 Father, full of grace and truth. And skipping to verse 16, John 124 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:11,800 says for his of his fullness, Christ's fullness, we have all 125 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:16,000 receive grace upon grace. For the law was given through 126 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:22,120 Moses, but grace and truth we're realized through Jesus Christ. 127 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,040 So God's grace has appeared in the person of the Lord and 128 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,560 Savior Jesus Christ. And I invite you to go to the 129 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:32,640 second Timothy verse chapter 1, verses 8 to 10. 130 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,400 And there Paul speaks of the same grace of God that he has 131 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,960 given to us. He also speaks of how this grace 132 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,800 has been made to appear in Christ Jesus. 133 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:47,520 He says in verse 8, Second Timothy chapter one, verse 8, 134 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,680 join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the 135 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:55,440 power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy 136 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,760 calling, not according to our works, but according to His own 137 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:04,640 purpose and grace which was granted to us in Christ Jesus 138 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,920 from all eternity. Here and here it comes, but now 139 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:15,480 has been revealed by the appearing of our Lord, say Lord 140 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:20,920 our Savior Christ Jesus. So Paul speaks of the same grace 141 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:25,800 of God that he has given to us and disgrace in Christ Jesus. 142 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,280 And his grace has been foreordained from all eternity. 143 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:35,960 And this grace is not just an afterthought, it's not just an 144 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:41,800 accident, but it's been planned. It's been predestined by God and 145 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:46,040 manifested in His Son. So going back to our text, 146 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:51,240 chapter 211 of Titus, for the grace of God has appeared in the 147 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:56,320 person of Christ Jesus. God has been gracious to you and 148 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,240 me by giving us life in this world for us to enjoy. 149 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:06,120 And the Lord Jesus says and confirms that in Matthew 545 150 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:11,440 when He says God causes His Son to rise on the evil and the good 151 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:16,200 and since rain on the righteous and the and the unrighteous. 152 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,760 And we know this to be God's common grace. 153 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,800 It's common to everyone. Everyone experiences that. 154 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:28,160 But what we have here is God's special grace in the person of 155 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,240 the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we're calling Paul's 156 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,800 intent here as the person of grace. 157 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:40,360 The person of grace question is, have you experienced the Lord 158 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,800 and Savior of Jesus Christ? Have you experienced the 159 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:48,800 kindness of God through him upon hearing the gospel of salvation 160 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:54,200 as the Lord and Savior of Jesus Christ made an appearance in the 161 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,480 eyes of your heart? For the grace of God has 162 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:00,800 appeared. And that leads us to the second 163 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:05,480 reality of God's grace, the program of God's grace, The 164 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,040 program of God's grace. Paul continues verse 11, the 165 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:14,200 second-half, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to 166 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:18,040 God to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live 167 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:23,120 sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for 168 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,440 the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our 169 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,960 great God and Savior Christ Jesus. 170 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:35,000 You see, Paul wants to see that the program of God's grace it's 171 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,880 to save and it's to sanctify and to give us hope. 172 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,320 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to 173 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,800 all men. You see, God's grace in Christ 174 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:53,520 came to bring salvation. Bringing salvation, you might 175 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,800 ask, salvation from what? Well, Christ came to live the 176 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,440 perfect life required of each of us. 177 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:08,520 He live to die the death that satisfies the God, the wrath of 178 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:13,600 God upon sin. He came to fulfill God's 179 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,760 promises in the Old Testament about the Savior and the 180 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:21,480 Messiah. He came to rise from the dead, 181 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:27,240 claiming victory over death. You see, God's grace in Christ 182 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,840 save came to save all men. All men. 183 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,880 What does it mean? Women are excluded, right? 184 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:40,440 It's a general term to mean mankind, right? 185 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,040 It's not necessarily teaching that everyone will be saved. 186 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,920 That would be the heresy of universal salvation. 187 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,240 Of course, that's not what it's teaching, but basically it's 188 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:58,040 teaching that God in His grace sent his Son and the person of 189 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,720 his Son, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so that he would 190 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:05,920 be able to send save mankind. It is for everyone. 191 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:09,520 It doesn't matter what part of the world you are in. 192 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:17,280 Christ came to save sinners. He's saved, He came to save 193 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,160 mankind. So the grace of the gospel is 194 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:24,240 for all kinds of people all over the world. 195 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:29,640 And Paul speaks of the gospel in 2nd Corinthians 519 and he says 196 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:35,760 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not 197 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:39,600 counting their trespasses against them, the world 198 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:44,240 reconciling the world to him. So the first phase within the 199 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,120 program of God's grace is to save now. 200 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,160 The second phase within the program of God's grace is to 201 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,880 sanctify God's grace in the person of Christ. 202 00:14:53,880 --> 00:15:00,280 Came verse 12, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly 203 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:04,960 desires to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the 204 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:09,280 present age and the world. And the word that Paul uses here 205 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:13,120 for instructing has that idea of a father training his son to 206 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,680 become more mature. You know, there's discipline 207 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:20,000 involved, there's teaching and sometimes correction, 208 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,560 chastisement, right? But the goal is to be able to 209 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:27,120 take that child and make him grow. 210 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:33,480 That's what the word means here in in by the word instructing 211 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:37,240 here that we have and this requires the necessary 212 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:39,440 discipline to be more like Christ. 213 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:45,120 You see from a baby Christian, a baby little Christ, we are being 214 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:50,200 trained and disciplined to be a more mature Christ like Christ. 215 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,120 And so the gospel involves the call to repent from sins. 216 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:01,560 It involves forsaking sin, rejecting them, and turning away 217 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,480 from them. And by God's grace, we've done 218 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:09,280 that when we responded to the goal of the gospel, right? 219 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:14,160 The call to repent of our sins, denying ungodliness and worldly 220 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,280 desires. And the word ungodliness here is 221 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,640 that sinful attitude by our selfish and sinful heart. 222 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:28,160 It's the attitude that leads us to go against God's law, His 223 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:32,480 commandments, and His will. It's to live as if God is dead. 224 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:36,320 It's basically practical atheism. 225 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:38,680 It's living as if there's no God. 226 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,240 Practical atheism. In practice, we live as if 227 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,600 there's no God. And worldly desires here are 228 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,400 everything that drives our sinful hearts and the 229 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,640 unbelievers to pursue what the world offers. 230 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:58,320 See in those desires that the Lord Jesus Christ said we would 231 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:04,160 know what worldly desires are. In Mark 721 to 22, he says that 232 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,720 from the heart comes evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, 233 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:14,839 murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting, wickedness as well as 234 00:17:14,839 --> 00:17:21,280 deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 235 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:26,560 And there are those that Paul listed as parts of the deeds of 236 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:32,240 the flesh in Galatians 5921. Immorality, impurity, 237 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:39,640 sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, 238 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:46,000 outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions envying, 239 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:50,640 drunkenness, carousing. See, it's any desire or lust 240 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:55,880 that starts inside the heart, which is we know as the Control 241 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:00,800 Center of our lives, right? Everything comes from the heart, 242 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,600 The heart that the issue is. The issue of the heart, which 243 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,000 then finds its fulfillment in the system that Satan sets up in 244 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,720 the world to enslave people in their sins. 245 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:19,640 That's according to Ephesians 22, when Paul says and talks 246 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,560 about the sense in which you formerly walked, according to 247 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,440 the curse of this world, according to the Prince of the 248 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:29,240 power of the air, of the Spirit that is now working in the sons 249 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:33,320 of disobedience. And so in the negative sense, 250 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,640 the gospel and the grace of God trains us to deny ungodliness 251 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:42,480 and worldly desires. But in a positive sense, the 252 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,200 gospel trains us to pursue Christ likeness. 253 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:51,480 And look at verse 12 again. It says that the grace of God is 254 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:56,920 instructing us to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the 255 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,920 present age. See, to live sensibly is 256 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,720 basically to be sober minded in any situation. 257 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:11,520 See, it's being sensible or sober minded, not being 258 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:17,680 influenced by any substance that will cost you to be unstable and 259 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:22,080 to impair your judgment. Being sober minded basically is 260 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,240 the opposite of being drunk or intoxicated, is the opposite of 261 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:30,760 being reckless, irresponsible and self indulgent, is the 262 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:36,520 opposite of being unstable or distracted, asleep and inactive. 263 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:41,920 But in a positive sense, being sensible and sober minded means 264 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,920 to be clear in your mind and your thought. 265 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,880 It's free from clutter or pollution or distraction. 266 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:55,800 It's to be clear headed, mentally sharp and focus, self 267 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:00,800 controlled, self-discipline and stable so that you're always 268 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,160 active and always awake, alert and in charge. 269 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:09,440 Is to have the right thoughts about what you should do or to 270 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,440 let your mind guide your body in what it does. 271 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,680 Is to be sound in your thinking and in your behavior. 272 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:21,400 And living righteously here is to have a quality or character 273 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,680 of life wherein your thought and your behavior are done properly, 274 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,040 correctly and justly, A pridely manner. 275 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:35,360 It's to faithfully obey the Bible, God's Word, which is our 276 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,480 standard upon which we do and know what's right. 277 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:46,280 It's to live according to His character, God's character, his 278 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:51,640 ways, his precepts, his will to think like God thinks, talk like 279 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:56,600 God, and to act like God. So practically, it's to have the 280 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:02,360 mind of Christ, godly basically is to mean that you fear and you 281 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:06,080 reverence and love God. That's what he means to be 282 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:10,200 godly. It's practically to have the 283 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:15,600 mind of Christ. It's to ask yourself what and 284 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:20,600 how did Jesus think? Not what would Jesus think, but 285 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:24,400 what did he actually think? How did he actually think? 286 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,040 That's also to do the deeds and commandments of Christ. 287 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,520 What did Jesus do? Not, would not, what would Jesus 288 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:32,800 do? What? 289 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:36,400 What did actually he do? What did he do? 290 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,680 What did Jesus do? And it's in Scripture, right? 291 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:44,720 So you see, God's grace of salvation in Jesus Christ is 292 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,720 transforming. We are no longer slaves to sin. 293 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,320 Instead, we are now slaves to righteousness. 294 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:58,600 It's Romans 618 that indicates to us, you know, the Holy Spirit 295 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:02,360 drives us now. That means our lives are driven 296 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:07,480 by the fruit of the Spirit as we can see in Galatians 522 to 23, 297 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:14,600 which includes Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 298 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:19,960 faithfulness and self-control. So God's grace trains us to live 299 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,800 sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age. 300 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,720 We are to be like Christ right now. 301 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:31,920 Right now. You see, in the climate that we 302 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:37,720 live in, there is much need indications for true Christians 303 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,640 to be Christians. It's easy to coin to be a 304 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:45,200 Christian. The fact could mean you claim to 305 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,880 be a Christian. A sicker could claim to be a 306 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:54,240 Christian. But in this pressing age, we 307 00:22:54,240 --> 00:23:00,640 need to be known as people who deny ungodliness and go by what 308 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,160 the word of God says regarding true righteousness. 309 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,440 You see, as believers and as Christians, we have been changed 310 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:16,520 and that there are things that we no longer think or desire 311 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:18,840 anymore. There are things that we don't 312 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:23,600 do anymore. We are now taking after Christ's 313 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,920 name, right? That's why we call ourselves 314 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:34,440 Christian after Christ. We're miniature versions of 315 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:38,400 Christ. We're the proteges of Christ, 316 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:44,080 this present corrupt and morally bankrupt age. 317 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,960 We're walking and living differently. 318 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:52,480 We have a different path. And that brings us to the third 319 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:57,320 phase of the program of grace, which is to give hope a future 320 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,760 glory. You see, while God's grace in 321 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,880 Christ trains us to pursue Christ's likeness in the present 322 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:12,720 age, God's grace also trains US, verse 13, to be looking for the 323 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:16,200 blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God 324 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:21,040 and Savior Christ Jesus. And what we're looking for here, 325 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,280 again, it's not something that's lost. 326 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,200 No, we're looking for it in expectation. 327 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:31,320 We're looking for it with great diligence. 328 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,120 We're looking forward to it with watchfulness and great 329 00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:40,240 excitement. See the praise, the blessed 330 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,640 hope, and the appearing of the glory of our great God and 331 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:49,160 Savior Christ. Jesus refers basically to the 332 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:53,240 resurrection of our bodies, the resurrection of our bodies. 333 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:58,080 And when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to establish his reign 334 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:02,600 on earth, to establish his Kingdom, that's what's going to 335 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:10,000 that's what he's going to do, give us glorified bodies fit for 336 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,040 that Kingdom. So you notice how Paul 337 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,960 attributes God and Savior to Jesus Christ because he is, 338 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:23,200 right, Jesus Christ is God. And by the way, if you're 339 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:29,680 talking to a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness, whether God is or 340 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,760 whether Jesus is God, this is a great text to point them 341 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,240 towards, right? Because here is it's 342 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:42,720 specifically spelled out, right, the God and Savior Jesus Christ. 343 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,600 And we know that he's God because from John one, we know 344 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:51,800 him to be the word who was with God, who was God, right? 345 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:57,280 And John 5858, the Lord claimed that He was before Abraham, 346 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:03,320 before Abraham was alive. He said, I am claiming that he 347 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,480 is Yahweh himself. That and that He existed before 348 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,680 Abraham was. And that's a claim to His 349 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:14,640 preexistence, His deity, his eternality. 350 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:17,880 That's why his enemies wanted to disown him. 351 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:22,920 They knew what He was claiming preexistence eternally. 352 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:27,960 That means he's God. And then John 1030, He claims 353 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,040 equality with the essence of the Father. 354 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,880 If he is of the same essence as the Father, which no one had 355 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:41,240 claimed, it only means that he's also God right now. 356 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:44,720 That he's great just means that he is immense. 357 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:51,360 He's magnanimous, incomparable in his character, majesty and 358 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:54,880 power. Just as the Father is great and 359 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:58,960 his name, Jesus means God saves the title. 360 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:03,920 Christ means the Messiah, the anointed Savior and king. 361 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,720 It's not last name. It means something. 362 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,160 It means the Messiah, the anointed Savior and king. 363 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:15,600 And so we believe Christ to be God and Savior, and we're 364 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,960 looking for the blessed hope of our God and Savior. 365 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:23,800 And it's a blessed hope because it's going to be full of joy. 366 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:27,680 It's happy, and it's a privileged moment. 367 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:32,280 This hope is not just positive thinking or wishful thinking. 368 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,920 It's something good that will happen in the future, and we can 369 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:40,240 bank on it. It's almost as if we can grasp 370 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,840 it because the God who promised it is faithful. 371 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:46,880 It's a short promise waiting to happen. 372 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,120 And John one, if you can turn there with me first. 373 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:58,760 John 32 it says first. John 32 Beloved, now we are 374 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:06,480 children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. 375 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:15,640 We know that when he appears we will be like him because we will 376 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:20,960 see him just as he is. Peter and first Peter blesses 377 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:24,760 God for this promise and he calls it a living hope. 378 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:29,600 He says blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 379 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:34,840 who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again 380 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:39,560 to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ 381 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,440 from the dead. You see, because Jesus Christ 382 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,240 rose from the dead, we will also rise from the dead. 383 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:55,760 The blessed hope is receiving our resurrected bodies, physical 384 00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:00,400 bodies, just like the Lords. Remember, he ate after his 385 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,600 resurrection. He could take on a physical 386 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:08,720 tangible fish and eat it. It's a physical resurrected 387 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,360 body. It's fit for the new heavens and 388 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,800 the new earth. Paul says in Philippians 389 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,480 3/20/21. For our citizenship is in 390 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:22,760 heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for our Savior, the 391 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:27,720 Lord Christ Jesus. And then it says verse 21, who 392 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:33,120 will transform our body of our humble state into conformity 393 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:38,040 with the body of his glory. It's going to be our glorious 394 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:42,280 body. You see, if you're here and you 395 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:48,760 have ailments and sickness and weakness, our glorious body is 396 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,960 the answer and the hope that we have been waiting for. 397 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:57,520 This is why we trusted in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 398 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,360 We didn't just put our faith in Him so that we would be saved 399 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:04,240 from the judgment of God upon the wrath of our sin. 400 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:10,640 We have trusted Christ because we hope that our bodies, the 401 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,120 sinful bodies, will be resurrected someday and that 402 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:19,200 body will no longer be susceptible to sickness, to sin, 403 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:27,160 to weakness. We will have the body as God 404 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:33,000 intended it for us to have, perfectly worshipping with our 405 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:37,120 bodies, our Creator, our God, and our Savior. 406 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:48,720 We will no longer sin. That's the answer of Pastor John 407 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:50,600 MacArthur when he was asked, you know what? 408 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:52,800 Do you look forward to heaven when you get there? 409 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,520 The absence of sin? I mean, there's a lot of things 410 00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:01,200 that we can say, right? But are you guys in favor of 411 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:07,120 truth and honesty? Christ Community Church, is this 412 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:10,440 your answer as well? I know it is mine, right? 413 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:18,920 So this blessed hope, it's worth the anticipation even in the 414 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:23,800 midst of suffering in this evil world, because it's going to be 415 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:28,440 full of glory, Paul says in Romans 818 to 24. 416 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,720 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time 417 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:35,840 are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is going to 418 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,320 be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of 419 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:43,960 creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 420 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:48,680 We're waiting to be unveiled. We're waiting to be revealed for 421 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:53,520 who we are really going to be. Then skipping to verse 21, Paul 422 00:31:53,520 --> 00:32:00,000 says we ourselves having the first fruits of the spirit, even 423 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:05,400 we ourselves groan with ourselves waiting eagerly for 424 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:11,320 our adoption, our sons. And here we go, the redemption 425 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,960 of our bodies. See, we're looking forward to 426 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,840 that blessed hope of our redeemed and resurrected bodies. 427 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:25,240 For in hope Paul says verse 24, Romans 8, we have been saved. 428 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:31,560 But hope that is seen, It's not hope for who hopes for what he 429 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:36,400 already has or sees. But if we hope for what we do 430 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:42,000 not see, we persevere while we wait eagerly for it. 431 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:47,880 So we diligently and we watchfully look forward to it. 432 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:52,880 It's going to be a blessed time when Christ returns in his 433 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,440 glory. It's also going to be a time of 434 00:32:55,440 --> 00:33:00,520 glorification. We were going to be exalting in 435 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:06,800 great joy for having followed Christ and obeyed Christ and put 436 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:10,480 our trust and faith in him. Listen to what Paul says in 437 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:14,600 First Corinthians 1555 to 54 to 55. 438 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:20,600 But when his this corruptible, this earthly body puts on the 439 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:25,480 incorruptible or heavenly body, and this mortal puts 440 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:31,120 immortality, then we'll come about with the word that is 441 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,960 written. Death is swallowed up in 442 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,320 victory. Oh, death, where is your 443 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:40,320 victory? Where is your sting? 444 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,880 And several verses before that, in verse 50, Paul speaks of the 445 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,720 believers immortal and resurrected bodies fit for the 446 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,720 Kingdom of God. He says, now I say this, 447 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:58,760 brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of 448 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:03,440 God, nor does the correct corruptible inherit the 449 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:08,880 incorruptible. And Paul again first Timothy 41, 450 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:13,480 once Timothy to take the appearing of Christ expectedly 451 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:17,920 and soberly. He says, I solemnly charge you 452 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:22,520 in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge 453 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:27,520 the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his Kingdom. 454 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:33,040 Peter speaks of this same thought and reality in Second 455 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:37,320 Peter chapter 3 says, But the day of the Lord will come like a 456 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:41,639 thief, in which the heavens will pass away with the war, and the 457 00:34:41,639 --> 00:34:45,679 elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and 458 00:34:45,679 --> 00:34:50,880 its works would be found out. Since all these things are to be 459 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,800 destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought to be in holy 460 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:59,920 conduct and godliness looking for in the hastening the coming 461 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:04,680 of the day of the Lord, because of which the heavens burning 462 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:08,720 will be destroyed and the elements will melt with intense 463 00:35:08,720 --> 00:35:12,000 heat. But according to His promise, 464 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:16,600 we're looking for the new heavens and the new earth in 465 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:22,160 which righteousness rose. You see, this blessed hope of 466 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:27,960 having our immortal bodies fit for the new heavens and the 467 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:32,360 earth is something it's going to be undescribable. 468 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:40,560 It's like living the life that we have now, but without the 469 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:45,600 presence of sin, only righteousness and perfect 470 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:49,560 worship of our Lord, God and Creator. 471 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:58,960 And it would be irresponsible to me if I don't talk about the 472 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,560 immortal bodies that are also going to be given those who do 473 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:08,520 not trust in Christ. You see, because just as there 474 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:15,080 is the resurrection body that will be given to those who trust 475 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:20,920 in Christ, there will also be a resurrection body that will be 476 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:27,720 given to those who oppose God and call it the gospel. 477 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:33,600 In John 525 to 29, it says the Lord is speaking here truly, 478 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,160 truly. I say to you, an hour is coming, 479 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:39,920 and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of 480 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:43,200 God, and those who hear will live. 481 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:48,880 For just as the Father has life in himself, Even so He gave the 482 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:52,760 Son also to have life in himself, and He gave Him 483 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:56,960 authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man. 484 00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:03,040 Do not marvel at this for an hour's coming in which all who 485 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:07,760 are in the tombs will hear His voice, and we'll come forth. 486 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:12,840 Those who did the good deeds through a resurrection of life, 487 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:19,560 and those who committed the evil deeds through a resurrection of 488 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:24,400 judgment. Doing good deeds is a reflection 489 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:29,120 of trust in Christ, and doing evil deeds deeds is a reflection 490 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:33,120 of rejecting Christ. So the righteous will be 491 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:37,720 resurrected, the wicked will also be resurrected. 492 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:44,200 Two kinds of resurrection, both eternal but different 493 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:48,200 environment. See Matthew 2546. 494 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,640 The Lord talks about how wicked people will go into eternal 495 00:37:51,640 --> 00:38:01,280 punishment and Hebrews 1027, the author of that book, it speaks 496 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:05,160 of how for those who reject the gospel and continue in sinning 497 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:09,240 that there will be a terrifying expectation of judgement and 498 00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:12,320 fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. 499 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:20,760 You see God's grace in the past. It's our justification. 500 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:23,760 It's past oriented. It saved us from the penalty of 501 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:27,040 sin. God's grace is also presence 502 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:31,000 oriented. It makes us wholly set apart 503 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:36,200 from the influence of sin now. And God's grace is future 504 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:40,600 oriented in that it will glorify our bodies when the Lord 505 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:44,800 returns, and it's ultimately going to set us free from this 506 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,520 body of sin, from the presence of sin. 507 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:53,640 So question is, has God really forgiven you of your sins? 508 00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:01,200 Does God really save you from His holy, just and righteous 509 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:07,920 penalty of it? Is there a struggle, a fight and 510 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:11,560 victory over the sin that entices you? 511 00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:18,840 Do you progress in becoming more like Christ, in your stature, in 512 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:23,240 your character, in your thoughts, in your speech, and in 513 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:27,640 your actions? Do you long for the future glory 514 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:30,920 of Christ? Or are you so much caught up 515 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:32,280 with what's going on in the world? 516 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:37,600 Do you long to see Christ? See, today is the day of 517 00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:40,040 salvation. Wake up. 518 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:47,720 Wake up from your stupor. Make sure you grasp the program 519 00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:52,160 of God's grace. So we've seen that God's grace 520 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:56,920 came in the person of Jesus Christ with the program to save, 521 00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:01,240 to sanctify, and to give hope. That's the program of grace. 522 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:05,120 And that leads us to the third reality of God's grace, third 523 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:09,160 reality of God's grace, which is the people of God's grace. 524 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,560 See verse 14. Paul describes how the person of 525 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:20,080 God's grace gave himself for us. Jesus Christ is the one who gave 526 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:25,680 himself for us. Christ gave his life for us. 527 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:34,360 We are the undeserved, unworthy recipients of God's grace. 528 00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:39,080 We are privileged. We are the privileged recipient 529 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:42,160 of God's grace. You see, that Christ gave 530 00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:48,000 himself points to the reality that He gave His life as a 531 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:52,920 sacrifice before God. That's the primary reason why He 532 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:57,320 came the first time. In Matthew 20/20/28 He says that 533 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:03,280 the Son of Man did not come to say to be served, but to serve 534 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:07,480 and to give His life as a ransom for many. 535 00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:14,680 He gave His life as a ransom, a ransom for us as part of that 536 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:19,520 many. But why would Christ sacrifice 537 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:22,240 himself for us? Why would He do that? 538 00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:25,960 Now look at verse 14. And here's the purpose. 539 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:31,640 In order to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for 540 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:36,320 himself a people, for his own possession, zealous for good 541 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:40,440 deeds. See, to redeem is to release 542 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:47,640 someone from captivity with the payment of a ransom and the 543 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:55,000 ransom prize. The price that Christ gave was 544 00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:57,400 his own blood. Think about that. 545 00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:04,120 His own blood, his own life, paid to satisfy God's 546 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:09,720 requirement upon sin, which is perfect justice and lawlessness. 547 00:42:09,720 --> 00:42:13,000 Here basically is contempt for God's law. 548 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:18,000 It's to act as if there's no law giver. 549 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:22,040 It's to be indifferent about God, the law giver. 550 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:27,560 So Christ gave himself not only to redeem us, Christ also gave 551 00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:33,560 himself for us to purify for himself a people, for his own 552 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:38,720 possession. To purify means to cleanse or to 553 00:42:38,720 --> 00:42:42,320 make clean. And we can see this purification 554 00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:44,920 in Hebrews chapter 10 if you can turn there with me. 555 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:47,680 Hebrews chapter 10, verses 12 to 18. 556 00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:54,120 Here we see the God the Father declares, and He judicially 557 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:58,880 claims us as His own possession through the saving work of the 558 00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:04,120 Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit applying to us the saving work 559 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:08,480 of the Son with His perfect life and His death on the on the 560 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:12,920 cross. Hebrews 1012 to 18 reads. 561 00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:18,040 But he, referring to Christ having offered one sacrifice for 562 00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:22,000 sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God the 563 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:26,960 Father, waiting from that time until his enemies are put as a 564 00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:30,760 footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has 565 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:35,720 perfected or purified for all time those who are being 566 00:43:35,720 --> 00:43:40,200 sanctified or made being or being made completely holy. 567 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:44,560 Verse 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us. 568 00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:48,800 For after saying, this is the covenant that I will make with 569 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:53,280 them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my loss upon 570 00:43:53,280 --> 00:43:56,520 their heart and on their mind. I will write them. 571 00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:01,960 See, that's the declaration and the stamp that we know that we 572 00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:06,280 belong to God. He then says verse 17 and their 573 00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:11,160 sins and their lawlessness, they're lawless deeds. 574 00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:18,520 I will remember no more. See, God purifies us from our 575 00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:23,960 sins and not only that, he claims us as his own. 576 00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:29,880 It's one thing to be considered not a Sinner, but it's another 577 00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:34,600 to be considered as righteous and part of God's family. 578 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:44,320 Of course, this this claim is something that God had planned 579 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:48,840 and prepared for even before the foundation of the world. 580 00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:52,080 Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians 1, four to seven. 581 00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:57,560 He says that God chose us in him in Christ before the foundation 582 00:44:57,560 --> 00:45:01,760 of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him in 583 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:08,520 love by by predestining predestining us to do adoption a 584 00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:12,400 sons through Christ Jesus to himself according to the good 585 00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:16,440 pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace 586 00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:20,160 which he graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved. 587 00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:25,760 In him we have the redemption through his blood, the 588 00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:29,760 forgiveness of our sins, the forgiveness of our 589 00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:33,000 transgressions according to the riches of his grace. 590 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:39,560 And now look again at verse 14 of our text, Titus 2, verse 14. 591 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:46,040 Christ gave Himself for us to redeem us, to purify us, and to 592 00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:52,720 make us His own, and to make us zealous for good works, zealous 593 00:45:52,720 --> 00:45:56,360 for good works. Being zealous is just being 594 00:45:56,400 --> 00:46:02,080 overly passionate, overly excited about something. 595 00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:06,360 And in Christ, God makes us to be passionate about good works, 596 00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:10,360 doing good deeds, doing everything that we can to make 597 00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:14,560 everyone's lives better, right? To improve their condition. 598 00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:19,160 And this reality, of course, is again planned by God. 599 00:46:19,240 --> 00:46:22,160 It's not an accident. It's not an accidental plan. 600 00:46:23,560 --> 00:46:28,840 Ephesians 28 says that we are the workmanship of God, created 601 00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:33,520 in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so 602 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:38,280 that we would walk in them. You notice that prepared 603 00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,240 beforehand so that we will, we would walk in them. 604 00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:44,760 We're not doing good works so that we might be saved. 605 00:46:45,160 --> 00:46:48,680 No, we are saved so that we would do good works. 606 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:56,720 So I see Christ gave himself for us so that we would become God's 607 00:46:56,720 --> 00:47:04,640 redeemed people, God's purified people, God's own people, and 608 00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:09,440 God's zealous people. Where are the people of God's 609 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:14,400 grace? See, as God's redeemed people, 610 00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:17,520 have you truly been saved from your sin? 611 00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:26,280 As God's beautified people, are you walking and and and living 612 00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:33,160 in holiness? As God's own people, do you 613 00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:37,080 consider yourself as a slave of your master? 614 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:44,240 Do you obey the gracious Master? As God zealous people, are you 615 00:47:44,240 --> 00:47:47,040 really excited to do what's good to everyone? 616 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:51,400 And do you do it for the glory of Christ? 617 00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:58,240 So we've seen God's grace has appeared in the person of the 618 00:47:58,240 --> 00:48:02,480 Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We've seen that the program of 619 00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:07,640 disgrace is saved to sanctify and to give the hope of glory. 620 00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:14,440 And we've seen that the people of grace are redeemed, purified, 621 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:17,680 owned, and made zealous for good works. 622 00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:22,960 I pray that we here at Christ's community would be able to 623 00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:30,000 identify with that as God's people of grace, zealous to do 624 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:33,880 good to everyone, as people who have the experience and are 625 00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:39,240 living out the program of God's grace, people who love and long 626 00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:43,800 for the person of God's grace, our Lord and Savior of Jesus 627 00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:47,200 Christ. I pray that our lives would 628 00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:52,960 showcase the richness, the richness of this grace because 629 00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:54,600 God deserves the glory. Amen. 630 00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:58,800 Amen. Let's pray Heavenly Father, I 631 00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:03,120 ask that you would do the work that only you can do through the 632 00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:06,560 word that you have inscripturated through Titus 633 00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:11,480 chapter 2 verses 1114. We ask, Holy Spirit, that you 634 00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:17,000 would cause us to treasure the truth of your grace so that we 635 00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:22,240 might be able to reflect the power of your grace that you 636 00:49:22,240 --> 00:49:27,960 have, Lord, prepared before, beforehand in the person of your 637 00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:32,360 Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we would be able to 638 00:49:32,680 --> 00:49:36,800 live out the program of that grace and that we would be truly 639 00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:40,360 a people of that grace. I pray all these things in Jesus 640 00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:41,120 name, Amen.