SPEAKER_00: Well, it's good to see everybody today.
SPEAKER_00: Back in the early days of planting this church, we met every Sunday at Lawrence School, which is about a mile west of here.
SPEAKER_00: After the service, there was always plenty to do.
SPEAKER_00: You know, my wife Marianne is always putting the children's rooms back in order, and I was talking with people and then helping to tear down so we could load everything into the church in a truck.
SPEAKER_00: And our oldest son, Alan, was about eight or nine at the time, and to him, Lawrence School wasn't just a place we met for church.
SPEAKER_00: It was kind of like a playground after church.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, everything was all packed up.
SPEAKER_00: It was time to head home.
SPEAKER_00: Only one problem: no Allen.
SPEAKER_00: So we checked classrooms, no Allen.
SPEAKER_00: We checked the bathrooms, no Alan.
SPEAKER_00: We checked the lockers, no Alan.
SPEAKER_00: Did someone take him?
SPEAKER_00: Is he hurt?
SPEAKER_00: Did he wander outside?
SPEAKER_00: We searched the entire building, no Alan.
SPEAKER_00: Then just as suddenly as he disappeared, he showed up.
SPEAKER_00: So you're incredibly thankful that your child is safe, but at the same time, you are thinking, you are in so much trouble right now.
SPEAKER_00: Now we had driven separately because separately because Marianne had come later with the boys.
SPEAKER_00: So Alan rode home with me.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
SPEAKER_00: He got another sermon on the way home.
SPEAKER_00: I just told him how frightened we'd been.
SPEAKER_00: I told him that what he did wasn't funny.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, when we get home, you're gonna get it.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not sure what getting it really meant that day, but it wasn't gonna be fun for him, it wasn't gonna be fun for me.
SPEAKER_00: Now we lived on Wallings Road back then, uh, on a hill that went from uh Ridge down to York.
SPEAKER_00: So we got close to our house, and instead of slowing down to turn into the house, I kind of sped up down the hill.
SPEAKER_00: Got down to York, turned left toward uh 82, and on the left-hand side is Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Divotts.
SPEAKER_00: And so I pulled into Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Divotts and I said to Alan, you deserve discipline today.
SPEAKER_00: You deserve to get it today, but I want you to learn something about God.
SPEAKER_00: So instead of giving you what you deserve, I'm gonna give you what you don't deserve.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give you an ice cream cone.
SPEAKER_00: So we walked in there, and I bought an ice cream cone, and he ate it.
SPEAKER_00: He got grace that day.
SPEAKER_00: He got a gift that he'd done nothing to deserve.
SPEAKER_00: And grace is unmerited favor.
SPEAKER_00: Grace is getting what you don't deserve.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, God's grace is infinitely better than a trip to Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Divitts and an ice cream cone.
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to you today about God's grace.
SPEAKER_00: Three big ideas.
SPEAKER_00: Grace appears, grace saves, and grace trains.
SPEAKER_00: First, grace appears.
SPEAKER_00: This is good news for us if we've kind of lost our way.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't know what your next best step is in life, if you feel like life is kind of confusing right now, if you're stumbling through the darkness and you're wondering, how did I get here?
SPEAKER_00: Where do I go?
SPEAKER_00: This message about the grace that appears is for you.
SPEAKER_00: And then grace saves.
SPEAKER_00: And this is good news for those of you who today think that you're somehow beyond God's love, that you've made too many mistakes.
SPEAKER_00: You think you're so bad and you're so lost that you're unsalvageable.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're carrying the weight of guilt and shame, if you wonder, can somebody like me really be forgiven?
SPEAKER_00: Then this message about the grace that saves is for you.
SPEAKER_00: And then grace trains.
SPEAKER_00: And this is good news if you're kind of like me.
SPEAKER_00: You try and try and try to get your act together.
SPEAKER_00: There's a sin you can't seem to shake, there's a habit you can't seem to break.
SPEAKER_00: If the good you want to do you can't seem to do because the challenge is too great and your strength is too small, then this message about the grace that trains is for you.
SPEAKER_00: So James said, open your Bibles to Titus chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: Grace appears, Grace saves, Grace trains.
SPEAKER_00: The title of this message is Grace That Works.
SPEAKER_00: Grace that works.
SPEAKER_00: Because you see, grace doesn't just forgive us, grace forms us.
SPEAKER_00: Grace just isn't pardon for your past, it's power for your present.
SPEAKER_00: Grace doesn't simply get you into heaven someday, grace gets heaven into you today.
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at it, Titus, beginning in verse 10, chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: We've been introduced to a whole group of people in the church on the island of Crete.
SPEAKER_00: This great spiritual leader, Paul, is writing to a protege, Titus, teaching him how to be a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, you need to train all of these people to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.
SPEAKER_00: 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 to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous or passionate for good works.
SPEAKER_00: And then this great apostle Paul gives the pastor on that island some advice.
SPEAKER_00: Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, and let no one disregard you.
SPEAKER_00: So you're not allowed to disregard me today.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta pay attention.
SPEAKER_00: And I hope you will, because there's so much packed in this paragraph.
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna have to put our seatbelts on, and we're gonna have to really listen hard to catch all the nuances that are here in this passage.
SPEAKER_00: Now, before we dive into those three big truths today, I want us to remember the context.
SPEAKER_00: The first ten verses of chapter two show younger men and older men, younger women and older women, uh the elders of the church, and all the bondservants, how they are to obey God and by doing so adorn the doctrine of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, last week Pastor Joe taught us that this word adorn is cosmeto in the Greek language, and we get our word to beautify from that word.
SPEAKER_00: So we're supposed to live self-controlled, we're supposed to live dignified and submissive lives.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: To display the beauty of Christian teaching.
SPEAKER_00: The doctrine of God is beautiful, and we now, as a congregation, have the privilege of displaying or adorning the beauty of the doctrine of God to the world.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to notice a little word that starts verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: It's very important.
SPEAKER_00: Only three letters in that word, four, and it's three letters in the Greek, gar, and it really could be translated because.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul, who's writing this letter to teach Titus to be a good pastor, is saying, I've just described the kind of life that shows how beautiful God's truth is.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm going to tell you how to adorn God's truth.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not through self-effort.
SPEAKER_00: It's not you doing more and trying harder, it's by grace.
SPEAKER_00: You can adorn the gospel because of the grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: First, grace appears.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: For the grace of God has appeared.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this word appeared, it means uh to bring to light.
SPEAKER_00: And if this is the horizon and this is the sun, it's like the sun is rising up over the horizon after a long dark night.
SPEAKER_00: This is the sun appearing, this is light breaking into the darkness.
SPEAKER_00: Grace shines, grace dawns.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a theme that actually runs through the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: For example, in Isaiah, one of God's prophets, he predicts that the people who have walked in darkness will see a great light.
SPEAKER_00: Another prophet, Malachi, at the very end of the Old Testament, he says, the Son of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.
SPEAKER_00: And he's appointing, he's pointing out that the appearance of the Son, S-U-N, is always pointing us to the appearance of the S-O-N, the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: And when he comes, he's going to bring the light of justice and hope and healing.
SPEAKER_00: And then, if you think about it, on the night when Jesus was born, the Bible says the shepherds are out in a dark field, and suddenly the angels appear and the glory of the Lord shone around them because this great light, this Son of righteousness, had finally appeared in the world.
SPEAKER_00: And then 30 years later, Jesus said about himself, I am the light of the world, and whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
SPEAKER_00: So in Jesus Christ, grace shines, grace dawns, grace appears.
SPEAKER_00: And he's kind of saying, I'm the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the fulfiller of Malachi's.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the son of righteousness that Malachi saw.
SPEAKER_00: And this is why in Titus 2 it says, the grace of God has appeared.
SPEAKER_00: Grace is not just an idea, it's not just a concept, grace has a name.
SPEAKER_00: Grace has a face.
SPEAKER_00: Grace has appeared in the person of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now, who is this Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Is he just a good man?
SPEAKER_00: Is he a great teacher?
SPEAKER_00: Is he a wonderful prophet?
SPEAKER_00: This section of scripture in Titus says that Jesus is more than that.
SPEAKER_00: Check out verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: It tells us exactly who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: He is our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: This is really important.
SPEAKER_00: Our kids go off to college and they take a class in history or comparative religion, and they hear a professor say, or they hear some pseudo-intellectual on YouTube say, the church did not come to believe that Jesus was God until A.D.
SPEAKER_00: 325 at the Council of Nicaea when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome.
SPEAKER_00: And our kids go, wait, what?
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: So our kids start doubting what they've learned about Jesus in Sunday school or in family devotions.
SPEAKER_00: And they think, well, you know, you can't trust the Bible anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And so some of them even began to deconstruct their faith.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm just going to tell you, you can train your kids not to be duped by that.
SPEAKER_00: The church didn't believe that Jesus was God until 325.
SPEAKER_00: Then why is Paul calling Jesus our great God and Savior here in the 60s?
SPEAKER_00: More than two and a half centuries before Nicaea.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why is it important for us to believe that Jesus is God in the context of grace that appears?
SPEAKER_00: It's because if the grace is coming from another human being, we'd still be in the dark.
SPEAKER_00: Grace didn't merely appear from God, grace appears as God.
SPEAKER_00: And this is why grace works.
SPEAKER_00: God Himself has lit up the darkness.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you have been living in the dark for a long time.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you were deeply wounded as a child.
SPEAKER_00: And those scars shape the dark way that you see yourself.
SPEAKER_00: That you see the world.
SPEAKER_00: That you see God.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe somebody you trusted betrayed you.
SPEAKER_00: Like a friend walked away, a spouse broke their vows, a business partner deceived you.
SPEAKER_00: And you've concluded my light-filled days are behind me.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you are carrying guilt over sins you've committed that no one else knows about.
SPEAKER_00: And you're haunted by that darkness.
SPEAKER_00: God brought you here today to let you know darkness does not get the last word.
SPEAKER_00: Grace has dawned, grace has appeared, grace shines in Jesus, and there is hope for you because grace has appeared.
SPEAKER_00: So right now I'd kind of like for us to take a time out and stop and pray just for a second.
SPEAKER_00: The prayer's on a screen.
SPEAKER_00: You can say it in your own words, but it's something like this: Lord Jesus, my life is dark.
SPEAKER_00: But in you, grace has appeared.
SPEAKER_00: And because you are God, you are infinitely powerful to defeat all the darkness in my life.
SPEAKER_00: Please, by your grace, light up my life.
SPEAKER_00: Grace appears.
SPEAKER_00: The second truth is that grace saves.
SPEAKER_00: A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Tony told the story of snorkeling in Indonesia with one of his daughters, and they were enjoying all the beauty of the undersea world, but they didn't know that the current was taking them out to sea.
SPEAKER_00: And his daughter was little, had these floaties on, and she's in danger.
SPEAKER_00: She didn't need a how to be a better swimmer lesson.
SPEAKER_00: She needed someone to save her.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what Tony did.
SPEAKER_00: I want to say, left to ourselves, we are all being swept out to sea.
SPEAKER_00: Our floaties aren't going to work.
SPEAKER_00: Relationally, emotionally, spiritually, because of our sin, we're all doomed to die.
SPEAKER_00: Separated from God for all eternity in hell.
SPEAKER_00: We cannot save ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the good news.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11 for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I get mad at myself because I'm not as excited about salvation as I should be.
SPEAKER_00: The word means rescued.
SPEAKER_00: I need to be rescued.
SPEAKER_00: I need saving grace.
SPEAKER_00: You need saving grace.
SPEAKER_00: We need to be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I ask people, are you saved?
SPEAKER_00: And they go, saved from what?
SPEAKER_00: Saved from self.
SPEAKER_00: Saved from sin.
SPEAKER_00: Saved from death, hell, and the grave.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad we have a Savior.
SPEAKER_00: His name is Jesus, which means Savior.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord saves Yeshua.
SPEAKER_00: Now, salvation in the Bible is in three tenses it's past, present, and future.
SPEAKER_00: If you've trusted in Christ, Jesus has saved you from the penalty of sin.
SPEAKER_00: That's justification.
SPEAKER_00: Which means you're forgiven free, fully, finally.
SPEAKER_00: The slate is wiped clean.
SPEAKER_00: No marks against you anymore.
SPEAKER_00: The debt was paid.
SPEAKER_00: And it also means that I've been clothed in the righteousness of Christ and I'm declared right in God's sight so that when he sees me, he sees me like I'm dressed like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I look like Jesus to him.
SPEAKER_00: That's justification.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus is saving us from the power of sin.
SPEAKER_00: And we call that sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: So even after we've been forgiven, we're still struggling, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're still struggling with those seven deadly sins.
SPEAKER_00: Pride and anger and greed and lust and envy and gluttony and sloth.
SPEAKER_00: We all struggle with all of that.
SPEAKER_00: But God's saving grace doesn't just forgive us for all of that, his saving grace begins to change us.
SPEAKER_00: Now we'll talk about more than that in a few minutes.
SPEAKER_00: That's sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus will save us from the very presence of sin.
SPEAKER_00: And we call that glorification.
SPEAKER_00: One day our battle with sin and selfishness will be over forever.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be with Jesus in heaven forever.
SPEAKER_00: No more fears and no more tears.
SPEAKER_00: That's glorification.
SPEAKER_00: So salvation is more than just where we're going to spend eternity.
SPEAKER_00: It's about what God has graciously done, past tense, what he is doing, present tense, and of course what he will do, future tense.
SPEAKER_00: But how does Jesus save us?
SPEAKER_00: That's here.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: He gave himself for us to redeem us.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ volunteered to take my place on the cross, to take your place on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: I think about the scourging of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: What needed to happen was I should have been the one chained to the stake, and the whip should come down on my back, ripping my back to shreds.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus goes, no, no, no, time out.
SPEAKER_00: And he covers me so that it's his back taking the beating that I should take.
SPEAKER_00: He gave himself for us.
SPEAKER_00: I should have been judged by the Father.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the one who deserved to die, to pay for my own sins, you too.
SPEAKER_00: But he gave us amazing grace.
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you're in the middle of a storm in the ocean, lightning flashing, waves crashing, you don't need to learn how to swim better.
SPEAKER_00: You need someone who sees the danger that you're in, who realizes you can't rescue yourself, and who loves you enough to risk their own life to save you.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what Jesus did.
SPEAKER_00: Saving grace.
SPEAKER_00: Are you saved?
SPEAKER_00: It says the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
SPEAKER_00: Is he saying that all people will ultimately be saved?
SPEAKER_00: No, Jesus talked about an eternal place of punishment, hell, lake of fire, more than he talked about any other thing.
SPEAKER_00: Many places in the Bible speak of eternal judgment for those who do not receive Jesus as their Savior.
SPEAKER_00: Some people would rather pretend I'm not drowning than to come to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: They won't ask Jesus to save them.
SPEAKER_00: So not all people will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Some choose not to be.
SPEAKER_00: So what does all people mean then in this verse?
SPEAKER_00: It means this salvation is available to everyone.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, Whosoever will may come, but only those who actually receive Jesus will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: It's like a life preserver has been thrown out into the ocean for everyone, but only those who grab it will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Saving grace has appeared.
SPEAKER_00: Not just for church-going people, not just for respectable people, not just for moral people, but for all kinds of people.
SPEAKER_00: Red, yellow, black, and white.
SPEAKER_00: Rich, poor, young, old, sinful, pretenders.
SPEAKER_00: All of us undeserving.
SPEAKER_00: No one here will ever be able to say one day, well, saving grace wasn't offered to me.
SPEAKER_00: It has appeared to all people to save all people.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of you know this gospel of grace.
SPEAKER_00: You've heard it hundreds of times.
SPEAKER_00: And you believe that Jesus forgives sinners, but you're wondering, will he forgive you?
SPEAKER_00: And you've been carrying guilt and shame for a very long time.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you walked away from God and You went to places that you never thought you would go.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe your marriage fell apart because of some poor choices you made.
SPEAKER_00: You wish you could turn back the clock.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've hidden an addiction to alcohol or porn for years.
SPEAKER_00: And outwardly you've learned to present yourself well, but inwardly you feel like a fraud.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you ended a pregnancy, and deep down inside you regret it.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're haunted by angry words you spoke, a friend you failed, a lie you told, opportunities you wasted.
SPEAKER_00: And if any of this describes you, then God brought you here to remind you the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation, yes, to even the likes of you.
SPEAKER_00: This verse doesn't say that grace appeared to give you another chance to redeem yourself.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't say grace has appeared to offer you probation.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't say grace has appeared bringing you another opportunity through your self-effort in order to do more, be better, try harder.
SPEAKER_00: It says grace has appeared bringing you full, free, final salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus isn't looking for people that have cleaned themselves up somehow.
SPEAKER_00: He came to save guilty people, broken people, ashamed people, rebellious people, respectable people, religious people, all kinds of people.
SPEAKER_00: Your sin may be deep, your shame may be great, but the grace of God is greater than all your sin.
SPEAKER_00: You are not beyond the reach of God's grace.
SPEAKER_00: So I'll ask it again.
SPEAKER_00: Are you saved?
SPEAKER_00: Do you know?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about a think-so salvation.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about a hope-so salvation.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about a no-so salvation.
SPEAKER_00: I know I've been saved from the penalty of sin.
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm being saved from the power of sin, and I know I will one day be saved from the very presence of sin.
SPEAKER_00: Grace saves.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not sure that you're saved, then look at this prayer on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: There are no magic words.
SPEAKER_00: You could make up your own words.
SPEAKER_00: But this is the kind of thing we need to say to God.
SPEAKER_00: Dear God, I've sinned.
SPEAKER_00: I've rebelled against you.
SPEAKER_00: And I deserve to be eternally punished, separated from you forever in hell.
SPEAKER_00: But because you're full of grace, you sent Jesus to be my rescuer, to live the life I could not live, and die the death I should have died.
SPEAKER_00: He rose again to give me new life.
SPEAKER_00: So save me.
SPEAKER_00: I think that there are probably dozens in this room that need to just in your heart cry out to God right now.
SPEAKER_00: Save me.
SPEAKER_00: And today I turn from my sin and I receive Jesus my Savior.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's your prayer, you know what your next step is?
SPEAKER_00: We're going to celebrate this after the end of this last song of baptism.
SPEAKER_00: You need to be baptized.
SPEAKER_00: Take our baptism class next.
SPEAKER_00: Not that baptism saves you, but it's a sign that you are saved.
SPEAKER_00: Grace appears, Grace saves, and Grace trains.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: It says that Grace is training us.
SPEAKER_00: Now this word training is a word used to describe how parents train children.
SPEAKER_00: Grace is not a coach yelling at you from the sidelines.
SPEAKER_00: Grace is not like a judge waiting to bring the hammer down.
SPEAKER_00: Grace is a patient teacher, like a mom or a dad teaching a little kid how to ride a bike.
SPEAKER_00: Grace trains us in three ways.
SPEAKER_00: First, it trains us to leave the old life.
SPEAKER_00: When a king conquered another kingdom, the conquered people would swear allegiance to their new king.
SPEAKER_00: And what's an ingredient there?
SPEAKER_00: Leaving behind the old king.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't try to serve two kings, they had a new one.
SPEAKER_00: And all of us were living in the kingdom of darkness as the enemies of God.
SPEAKER_00: And we deserved judgment, we deserve the death sentence, but grace appeared, a new king forgave us and invited us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.
SPEAKER_00: So we leave behind the abusive king and the ways we lived in that kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: So grace trains us to renounce the old life.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions.
SPEAKER_00: Skip down to 14.
SPEAKER_00: And it redeems us from all lawlessness.
SPEAKER_00: So we're supposed to renounce ungodliness.
SPEAKER_00: I no longer live like there is no God.
SPEAKER_00: I no longer live like He's not watching me.
SPEAKER_00: And then we're supposed to renounce worldliness.
SPEAKER_00: I no longer live like the world lives.
SPEAKER_00: I don't spend my money the way my neighbors do.
SPEAKER_00: I don't manage my time the way they do at the office.
SPEAKER_00: I have new priorities now.
SPEAKER_00: I'm renouncing worldliness, and then I'm renouncing lawlessness.
SPEAKER_00: I no longer live like there's no law of God.
SPEAKER_00: I no longer live like there aren't any Ten Commandments.
SPEAKER_00: When a man and a woman are married and they exchange vows, you know what they're doing?
SPEAKER_00: They're renouncing every other possible romantic relationship for the rest of their lives.
SPEAKER_00: That one I do, I do, means more than eight billion I don't.
SPEAKER_00: So when we're saved by grace, I renounce ungodliness.
SPEAKER_00: I renounce worldliness.
SPEAKER_00: I renounce lawlessness.
SPEAKER_00: See, grace doesn't teach you to kind of manage your sin or minimize your sin or rationalize your sin or to try to keep your sin under a reasonable amount of control.
SPEAKER_00: Jerry Bridges says, when you go to war, you don't hope you get shot just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: You don't want to get shot at all.
SPEAKER_00: So we should not be people that go, well, just a little bit of sin is okay.
SPEAKER_00: It's not okay.
SPEAKER_00: It's not.
SPEAKER_00: Grace trains us to leave the old life, to renounce it.
SPEAKER_00: So if someone could see your life for the past month, if they could see your calendar, your browser history, your spending, your conversations, your entertainment, would they conclude that you have renounced your allegiance to the old ways of living?
SPEAKER_00: You know, we will never be perfectly sinless this side of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: But if grace has truly saved us, grace is now training us to leave the old life behind.
SPEAKER_00: I think the Holy Spirit is working in this room right now.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to think about one thing that he might be telling you right now.
SPEAKER_00: You need to renounce.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's been telling you that for weeks or months or years.
SPEAKER_00: What's that one thing?
SPEAKER_00: You're supposed to let go.
SPEAKER_00: You're supposed to say no more.
SPEAKER_00: Grace trains us to leave the old life.
SPEAKER_00: Grace trains us to live the new life.
SPEAKER_00: I love the fact that God says no always because he has a better yes.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the yes.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12, training us to live self-controlled.
SPEAKER_00: That word occurs five times in Titus.
SPEAKER_00: To live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
SPEAKER_00: I kind of created a question for myself, trying to wrap up all that's in these verses.
SPEAKER_00: Am I living sensibly, self-controlled, wisely, justly, reverently, purely, and generously?
SPEAKER_00: Here, now, all day, every day at home, at work, at school, on the field, when I'm driving online?
SPEAKER_00: Is that me?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've noticed that this letter, Titus, is constantly calling us to good works.
SPEAKER_00: It occurs, that phrase occurs once in chapter 1, it occurs twice in chapter 2, and then three times in chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: Doing good works is important, but we need to remember we're saved by grace, not works.
SPEAKER_00: So works are not the root of salvation, they are the fruit of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And I have found that a common belief here in Northeast Ohio is that good works, especially if your good works outweigh your bad works, that's gonna earn you a spot in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Suppose you get to heaven and God says to you, Why should I let you in to my heaven?
SPEAKER_00: You know, my father-in-law, when I would ask him that question, he used to smile and say, Well, if I got that far, I could talk myself in the rest of the way.
SPEAKER_00: He always kept me off balance.
SPEAKER_00: But a lot of church-going people aren't really joking about that.
SPEAKER_00: I've been good, they say.
SPEAKER_00: And yes, I've done some bad things, but I've done a lot of good things too.
SPEAKER_00: And I go to church and I say my prayers and I leave a 20% tip or 25% tip.
SPEAKER_00: I'm okay because my good outweighs my bad.
SPEAKER_00: But do you see the common denominator here?
SPEAKER_00: It's the word I.
SPEAKER_00: People are trying to earn their way into heaven through self-effort.
SPEAKER_00: They're trying to do enough works to make it past the pearly gates.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the opposite of grace.
SPEAKER_00: Don't do there, don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: Paul, the one who wrote this letter to Titus, is saying to him the same thing that he said to the Ephesian Christians, for by grace you have been saved through faith.
SPEAKER_00: And this is not of your own doing, it's the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one should boast.
SPEAKER_00: If you could earn your way to heaven through your good works, you'd probably break your arm patting yourself on the back that you made it.
SPEAKER_00: We're not saved by works.
SPEAKER_00: However, we are saved for works, because in that same passage in Ephesians, he goes on to say, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.
SPEAKER_00: The prepositions really, really matter here because the true gospel says we are saved by grace, through faith, in Christ, for works.
SPEAKER_00: And I say by works, but you're saved for them.
SPEAKER_00: And that means you're living the new life, you're living the good life.
SPEAKER_00: So are you living sensibly, justly, reverently, purely, generously?
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_00: What is a good work that you feel like God may be asking you to do that you have not done yet?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's writing a check to support some family in need.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's mowing your neighbor's yard when they're away on vacation.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's filling up a backpack for our mission trip to Beckley, West Virginia.
SPEAKER_00: What's a good work that God has laid on your heart that you need to do and you've been putting it off?
SPEAKER_00: Would you just tell him right now, okay, I'll get it done, Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Not in order to be saved, but because I am saved.
SPEAKER_00: Grace trains us to live the new life, and then Grace trains us to look for the next life.
SPEAKER_00: What you hope for tomorrow changes how you live today.
SPEAKER_00: Grace trains us while we are, verse 13, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Brides and grooms get fit or fitter because the wedding is coming.
SPEAKER_00: Athletes practice because the season is starting.
SPEAKER_00: And when we remind ourselves Jesus is coming back, and I've got to give an account, and I get to spend eternity with him forever, that helps us get ready.
SPEAKER_00: See, the world is gonna tell you this is all there is.
SPEAKER_00: You watch the commercials, buy this, that's the good life.
SPEAKER_00: And we say, no, Christ is coming back.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna lay up treasure in heaven, not here.
SPEAKER_00: And when you start to live that way, worldly passions begin to lose their grip on your life.
SPEAKER_00: A great Christian leader today, Randy Alcorn, has written a book that you can find out in our four-year called The Treasure Principle.
SPEAKER_00: Get it and read it.
SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: His whole ministry is like live for the life to come.
SPEAKER_00: His wife Nancy died in 2022 after a four-year battle with stage four cancer.
SPEAKER_00: And he recently shared one of the last conversations he had with her about a week before she died.
SPEAKER_00: They'd been married 47 years, they'd known each other 54 years, and she reached over and grabbed his hand.
SPEAKER_00: They had been praying together, and she says, Randy, thank you for my life.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Well, thank you for my life.
SPEAKER_00: But he wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: And then she explained, I want to thank you because I'm going to Jesus, and I'm going to have a greater reward because of you.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, wow, I want Mary Ann to be able to say that about me.
SPEAKER_00: And then Randy answered, Well, I'm going to have a greater reward because of you.
SPEAKER_00: But as he reflected on this, here's his conclusion.
SPEAKER_00: What a sweet way, as part of our goodbye to each other, that each of us had prompted the other to follow Jesus more closely.
SPEAKER_00: They were living to lay up treasure in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: That's the good life.
SPEAKER_00: That's the God life.
SPEAKER_00: This is why Titus says, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Grace teaches us that this life is not all there is.
SPEAKER_00: Grace trains us to help one another, follow Jesus more closely because eternity is real.
SPEAKER_00: Someday every sacrifice for Christ, every one of your acts of generosity, every unseen act of obedience, every cup of cold water you give to somebody in his name, every temptation resisted, and every good work that you do by grace is going to matter forever.
SPEAKER_00: Grace appears to us.
SPEAKER_00: Grace saves us.
SPEAKER_00: Grace trains us to leave the old life, live the new life, look for the next life so we can gain the good life.
SPEAKER_00: And when we do that, we're adorning the doctrine of God, our Savior.
SPEAKER_00: We make Jesus look more beautiful to the world.
SPEAKER_00: Remember that story I told you at the beginning about Alan disappearing at Lawrence School?
SPEAKER_00: Alan never pulled that stunt again.
SPEAKER_00: Now, don't misunderstand me.
SPEAKER_00: He was still a curious, rambunctious little boy.
SPEAKER_00: Plenty of times when he did get the discipline he deserved, he got it.
SPEAKER_00: But after that ice cream on that day, a gift of grace, he never disappeared in that building ever again.
SPEAKER_00: Now, was he afraid of getting discipline the next time?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe.
SPEAKER_00: But what if in that moment grace reached his heart in a way that punishment wouldn't have?
SPEAKER_00: He deserved discipline, instead, he got grace, and he never forgot it.
SPEAKER_00: Me either.
SPEAKER_00: God wants his grace to change you and to change me.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I wonder, it's like, how there's so many moving parts in this passage.
SPEAKER_00: Why did I get this passage?
SPEAKER_00: Why did they assign me this?
SPEAKER_00: And I think the answer to that is God wanted me to wrestle with this.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to do something fresh in me.
SPEAKER_00: He knows that I need this maybe more than anybody in this room.
SPEAKER_00: Why is that?
SPEAKER_00: It's because my default setting is self-effort.
SPEAKER_00: I love baseball, but I hate baseball.
SPEAKER_00: I played in college, played five years of minor league ball.
SPEAKER_00: It's like it shaped me.
SPEAKER_00: You're only as good as your last performance.
SPEAKER_00: It's a performance-based thing.
SPEAKER_00: There's no crying in baseball.
SPEAKER_00: There's no grace in baseball.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't perform, you're on the bench.
SPEAKER_00: That's part of my DNA.
SPEAKER_00: I drift back into believing that if I just try harder and do better, God will be pleased with me and I won't be this unsatisfying, slightly disappointing employee of God.
SPEAKER_00: Rather than a beloved child.
SPEAKER_00: We can believe that we're saved by grace and then spend the rest of our lives trying to grow by works.
SPEAKER_00: But that's not true Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: That's religion.
SPEAKER_00: Self-effort is exhausting and it produces guilt instead of joy, frustration instead of freedom, and striving instead of abiding.
SPEAKER_00: It's not grunt work that changes us, it's grace work that changes us.
SPEAKER_00: And so God is teaching me, hey Rick, stop striving for my acceptance and start serving from my acceptance.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to ask you to join me on a seven-day spiritual experiment, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Three times a day for one week.
SPEAKER_00: What if we all just stop for 60 seconds and ask God, remind me about your grace.
SPEAKER_00: Because it has appeared and it will save and it will train me.
SPEAKER_00: And so I've composed a prayer for myself.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it'll work for you.
SPEAKER_00: You can write your own if you don't like mine.
SPEAKER_00: And the prayer follows a pattern.
SPEAKER_00: By grace, I'm scared now.
SPEAKER_00: By grace, through faith in Christ for works.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the by grace part.
SPEAKER_00: Lord God, because of your grace, I'm fully loved, completely accepted, and totally forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the through faith part.
SPEAKER_00: I trust you to accomplish your will in me, through me, and for me.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the in Christ part.
SPEAKER_00: Christ alone is my pattern, my pardon, my power.
SPEAKER_00: Training me to leave the old life, live the new life, look for the next life.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the for works part.
SPEAKER_00: Make me passionate today to seize every opportunity to do the good works you created me to do.
SPEAKER_00: And then may my life adorn the truth about God my Savior.
SPEAKER_00: By grace, through faith in Christ for works.
SPEAKER_00: That prayer is in the message notes, and I think it's on a paper out in the four year or two.
SPEAKER_00: She does all that.
SPEAKER_00: So get it.
SPEAKER_00: And hey, if you don't like my prayer, compose your own.
SPEAKER_00: But let's do an experiment.
SPEAKER_00: Next seven days, three times a day, and see if we're not powered by grace instead of guilt.
SPEAKER_00: Father in heaven, I pray in Jesus' name that you would help us to put this to practice.
SPEAKER_00: And in doing so, that we might show the world by adorning the doctrine of God how beautiful Jesus really is.
SPEAKER_00: For we pray it in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.