WEBVTT 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:10.880 Would you pray once more with me? 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:12.320 Would you bow your heads? 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:29.679 And would you pray quietly to yourself that if there is anyone here who does not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that they would be convicted of their sins and that they would confess Christ as Lord? 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:30.559 Would you pray that? 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:52.079 And now would you pray for the person to your right and to your left that the Lord would open their eyes spiritually that they might see Christ? 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.599 And finally, would you pray for yourself? 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:10.159 That you would be holding on your thing. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.920 Lord, I pray that you would speak through me now in the power of your Holy Spirit. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:30.560 May you be honored and glorified for Christ's sake. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:31.519 Amen. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:35.920 I invite you to open your Bibles to Titus chapter two. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:42.000 We've been studying this amazing epistle to Titus. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:49.519 Paul wrote this to Titus, who was in Crete, with instructions on how to lead in the church and how to order the church. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:58.480 If you look at all three chapters of Titus, chapter one deals with putting the church into order in terms of the elders and dealing with false teaching. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:05.920 Chapter 2 deals with life in the church, the virtues and character qualities of those within the church. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:12.080 And then chapter 3 deals with life in the world, how we are to live out there. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:22.560 Well, chapter 2, we looked at, we've been studying this, we've looked at all the virtues that Paul talks about of the older men, the younger men, the older women, the younger women of slaves. 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:34.879 We've looked at all these virtues and we saw the amazing reality, not to be missed, that the grace of God is the foundation and the fuel of all of the Christian life. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:41.039 In fact, if you miss the grace of God, all that you have is moralism and legalism. 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:47.520 Have people been prone, denominations been prone to fall into legalism and moralism? 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:48.879 You bet they have. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:52.879 That was the problem in the first century with the Judaizers. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:58.400 But if you miss the grace of God, that's what ultimately happens. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:18.960 So amazing truth, Paul says, it is the grace of God that appeared, bringing salvation for all men, verse 12, that trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, godly, and upright lives in this present age. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:23.520 So the grace of God is the foundation of our sanctification. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:27.840 It's what does this work of virtue in the Christian life. 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:35.120 And it's easy to see all that and maybe move past this passage on to chapter 3, our life in the world. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:39.199 But I think if we do, we're going to miss something incredibly important. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:40.960 Massively important. 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:44.080 Astoundingly important. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:48.240 And that is found in verse 13. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.319 And this is the mindset of the Christian. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:57.919 This is the mindset of someone who has encountered God's grace. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:00.080 This is the posture. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:13.759 He says, they are waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:21.120 Notice that word waiting, or sometimes it's translated looking. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:26.720 He's talking about looking with the eyes of your mind. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:31.120 Waiting is a posture of the mind. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:33.040 It's a posture of the heart. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:34.800 Children, you know all about this. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:44.240 Many of you, you have your birthday circled on the calendar or Christmas, and you're waiting with eager expectation. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:50.000 You're carrying about your life, but you're waiting for that day, that important moment. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:56.480 I think about all the parents that sent off their boys in World War II. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:59.759 And it might look like they were carrying on with their lives. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:10.560 They were going to work, maybe going fishing on the weekend, doing those things, but in the back of their mind, what was going on the whole time, those four or five years that their boys were gone, what was going on? 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:12.000 They were waiting. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:16.399 They were waiting for that day that their boy was coming home. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:18.560 You see, it's a posture of the mind. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:33.680 And it's, I remember when I was engaged to Grace Anna, I was I counted down the days from a hundred to the day of our waiting, looking forward to that day with glorious expectation. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:37.439 And that's the idea. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:54.000 That the Christian has this mindset, should have this mindset, and in fact, must have this mindset where we are looking to the day when Jesus will return. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:01.279 And this mindset should dominate the Christian experience. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:08.000 Notice what Paul calls the second coming of Jesus Christ in verse 13. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:21.600 He uses one article and he links this phrase, the blessed hope, to the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:33.439 What he's saying is that the appearing, the second coming of Jesus Christ, is the blessed hope of the Christian. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:43.040 Now, that word hope, elpidos, it means a fixed event in the future that will happen. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:44.959 It's not wishful thinking. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:48.480 It's not, I hope the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl this year. 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:51.439 It's this will happen. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.879 And notice that word blessed. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:57.519 It's the word makarios. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:05.600 You could translate it happy, joyful, glorious. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.079 It's what's used in the Beatitudes. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:11.120 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:18.800 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:30.079 So Paul says that this expectation of the second coming of Jesus Christ, the appearing of Christ, is the happy, joyful hope of the Christian. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:32.480 That this hope is in our hearts and in our minds. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:34.399 This is what we carry with us. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:40.319 Could you use some happy hope this morning? 00:07:42.240 --> 00:08:15.439 What I have found is that so often this eager expectation of Christ's coming, this happy, glorious hope, is crowded out in our minds by all sorts of tribulations, anxieties, fears, where we become so fixated on our own problems here that we forget about these glorious realities that are promised to us when our Lord returns. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:30.800 It's not just anxieties and trials, it's also looking at the fleeting pleasures of this world, which pale in comparison to what we will experience when the Lord Jesus returns. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:38.159 So, as Christians, this is the defining mindset that we are to have. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:45.200 That we are to be in eager expectation of the Lord's return. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.879 Paul numerous times says this. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:51.039 This is 1 Corinthians 1.7. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:57.039 He says, wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:05.039 He describes the posture of the Christian in 1 Thessalonians 1.10 as waiting for God's Son from heaven. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:05.919 Peter said this. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:07.759 This is 1 Peter 1.13. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:14.320 He said, Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, listen to this. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:22.240 Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:23.919 Let me ask you this, Christian. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:32.480 Is your hope set fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ? 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.240 Is it fully there? 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:41.440 Or are you kind of like, well, I really like the things that I'm experiencing now, and it's kind of there? 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:47.519 If that's the answer, which let's be honest, we all struggle with that. 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:52.320 It's because we fail to realize the greatness of the promise. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:54.480 I'm just being honest with you. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:10:08.639 And it's because we struggle with sin, we struggle with the proclivities of our flesh, and we fail to see things as they really are, the glories that we will experience when the Lord returns. 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.120 And they are glorious. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:18.799 There's three frameworks of Paul's mindset in verse 13. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:24.159 Three aspects of his thinking, and I want to show them to you this morning. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:29.200 The first framework is the historical framework. 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:31.679 Nothing is more clear than this. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:43.120 That Paul viewed the second coming, the bodily return of Christ, as a historical event at the end of the age. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:44.639 It's very clear. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:52.000 If you look at verse 11, verse 11 is in reference to the first coming of Jesus Christ. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.799 For the grace of God has appeared. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:56.320 That's an heiress tense. 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:58.960 It means it's a completed action in history. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:03.200 The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:10.159 That's talking about the first coming of Jesus Christ, 6 BC to 30 to 33 AD. 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:19.360 That happened, and Jesus brought salvation to all men through his death on the cross, which he's laid out in verse 14. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:31.519 Then he says, but we're waiting for this verse 13, appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:32.639 He uses the same word. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:34.559 Look at that word appearing. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:37.200 It's the Greek word epiphanyia. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:40.399 It's where we get our English word epiphany. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:45.600 And it speaks to the reality of suddenly appearing. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:49.679 You think about an illusionist. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:59.600 Maybe he's standing up on the platform and he all of a sudden disappears through a mirror or a cloak or something. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:07.120 And then the next thing you know, he appears up in the balcony, and everybody is awed by this fact that he suddenly appears. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:08.399 That's the idea. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:16.639 And Paul uses this word, Epiphany, to describe the second coming of Jesus Christ. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:17.360 You think about this. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:18.720 You're going about your day. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:28.240 There's maybe some clouds in the sky, and then all of a sudden, Paul's using this descriptive language to describe he's going to appear. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:30.879 He's going to be there. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:36.639 You're not going to see him one second, and then the next second, he's going to be on all the news networks. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:38.799 He's going to be in the sky. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.120 He's going to appear, is what Paul is saying. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:51.759 And that language is how Paul refers to the second coming of Christ over and over and over again. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:13:00.720 For example, he tells Timothy, 1 Timothy 6.14, he says, keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:09.360 In other words, you be faithful until the epiphany of the Lord Jesus Christ, until that moment when he appears. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:18.000 He says in 2 Timothy, talking about preaching the word, he says, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:26.399 And by his epiphany, by his appearing, in other words, you preach as if he's going to appear that moment. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:27.600 That's how important it is. 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:28.639 That's how real it is. 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:32.000 You preach the word, Timothy. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:37.519 He tells the Thessalonians, talking about the Antichrist, this final man of lawlessness. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:42.159 He says Jesus is going to destroy him when he appears. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:43.919 2 Thessalonians 2.8. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:56.399 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing at the appearance of his coming. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:02.879 So Paul uses this very descriptive language to describe this second return of Christ. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:13.120 He also uses the word where we get apocalyptic revelation, describes it as the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.320 So Jesus will return. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:26.080 And of course, this is what Jesus taught his disciples. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:31.039 Remember when Jesus ascended into heaven on the Mount of Olives? 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:36.799 The disciples were there looking up into the sky, and then all of a sudden there were two angels there with them. 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:54.159 This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.600 So Jesus will return. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:04.000 He will return in a glory cloud in the same way that he was taken up. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:09.360 And Paul describes it as an epiphany and a revelation. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:11.840 We will see him instantly. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.559 And why are we to hope in this? 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:19.120 Why is this the happy, joyful hope of the Christian? 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.279 Jot these references down. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:28.480 Paul teaches that when Jesus returns, the dead in Christ will be raised. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:36.000 1 Corinthians 15, 23, and we will all receive resurrection bodies. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.960 Also, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thessalonians 4.16. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:47.840 When he comes, Paul teaches that he will destroy the Antichrist and God's enemy. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.240 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:54.559 When he comes, he will judge the living and the dead. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:55.840 Amazing. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.320 No wrong will go unpunished. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:15:59.679 He will judge. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.399 That's 2 Timothy 4.1. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:07.120 He will deliver believers from the wrath to come. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:09.759 1 Thessalonians 1.10. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:13.039 He will hand over the kingdom to the Father. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:16.159 That's 1 Corinthians 15, 24. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.360 And then, amazing. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.320 We will always be with the Lord. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:25.200 The believer will always be with the Lord. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:30.000 1 Thessalonians 4 17. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:37.360 I think it's important that we emphasize that this is a historical event in Paul's mind. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:43.519 This gives the Christian a great peace of mind. 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:46.000 A great peace of mind. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:50.000 How does the secularist look at history? 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:54.399 The secularist looks at history with question marks. 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:57.279 I don't know how this world will end. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.080 I don't know what could happen. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:11.920 You could put in every catastrophic movie into that pause in the mind of the secularist. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:16.559 Remember Independence Day? 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:21.200 Where the aliens show up and it's the end of the earth. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:28.799 Armageddon, uh, asteroid is going to come from heaven and destroy the earth. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:37.599 You have these other movies where you have pandemics that take over the entire earth and the population of the earth is destroyed. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:38.720 No, no, no, no. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:44.160 The believer knows exactly how history will culminate. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:50.079 History will culminate with the return of Jesus Christ. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:52.160 We've read ahead. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:55.359 We don't have to guess at where history is going. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:57.599 Furthermore, furthermore. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:02.720 How do we look at evil in the world? 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:06.400 What do we do when we're sinned against, when we're wronged? 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:07.519 How can we forgive? 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:12.400 How can we take in all the injustice that we see in this world? 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:15.359 Remember what Paul says? 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:18.960 Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.160 When will vengeance be meted out? 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.119 When will justice be done? 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.000 When the Lord returns. 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:39.279 So we can look at history and we know look, it might seem like people are getting away with it, but they're not. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.319 There will be a day of justice. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:49.359 And this brings great clarity to our thinking. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:54.880 We know where history is going, and we know what will be done. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:01.440 And what a glorious day it will be, by the way, to always be with the Lord. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:03.440 That's the happy hope. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:05.200 That's the glorious hope. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:10.400 Is that when he comes, we will forever then be with him. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:14.880 So that's the historical framework of all this. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:25.359 And that's clear in Paul's mind that he is looking with certainty at this event just like he looked at the certainty of the first coming of Jesus Christ. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:31.839 But there's another aspect of Paul's thinking here that we need to see, another part of his framework. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:36.079 And that is the ethical framework in his thinking. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:42.880 Notice how Paul links verse 12 with verse 13. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:45.119 Look at verse 12. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:49.039 So the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:51.599 Notice what the grace of God does. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:52.799 It's all ethical. 00:19:52.960 --> 00:20:03.039 He says it trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:04.240 Period, right? 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:05.279 Wrong. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:05.839 No. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:06.720 Comma. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:09.839 The thought continues. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:14.640 In other words, verse 12 is linked to verse 13. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:23.920 These ideas of godly living and expectation of the second coming of Christ, these ideas go together. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:31.200 As a kid, you ever hear from your mom, you wait till your father gets home. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:32.880 What does that do? 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:41.680 It's a cry to straighten up because you don't want to be doing that when your dad gets home. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.720 So there's an ethical dimension of this. 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:50.799 And that word that Paul uses, waiting, it implies an active waiting. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.240 We're not just sitting on our thumbs. 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:56.160 He says we're waiting. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:10.640 And this waiting for the Lord's coming is linked to renouncing ungodliness and worldly passions and living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:11.920 Jot this verse down. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:14.319 This is 1 John 3, 3. 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:27.119 Everyone who hopes in him, talking about Christ, purifies himself as he is pure. 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:39.039 So those who hope in the second coming of Christ purify themselves as Jesus is pure. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:46.319 In other words, thinking about the return of Christ changes how we live. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:49.359 That's what Paul is getting at. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:52.160 That's what Jesus taught. 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:59.039 That thinking about his return changes how we live. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.839 Take a little bit of an excurses here. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:07.119 I want you to turn to the left to the book of Matthew. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:10.400 So it's the very first book of the New Testament. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:22.720 And we're going to turn to Matthew chapter 24, which is a section of Scripture known as the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus is talking about future events. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:40.880 Jesus teaches us three parables in Matthew 24 and 25 that all have ethical dimensions to them about awaiting for his return. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:50.400 The first parable is the parable of the righteous and the unrighteous slave. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:55.519 And you find that in Matthew 24, verse 45. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.200 Look at verse 45. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:11.200 Who then is the faithful and wise servant or slave, whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time? 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:16.319 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing. 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:18.400 Listen, when he comes. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:20.720 That's referencing the second coming. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:25.200 He says, Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:54.240 But if that wicked servant says to himself, My master is delayed, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:58.000 Let me explain this very briefly, very briefly. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:06.480 The servants represent those who profess Jesus Christ. 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:11.359 He's not comparing a genuine disciple with an outright pagan. 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:12.960 That's the scary part. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:18.160 He's comparing people that profess Christ in the church. 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:20.640 Two so-called slaves. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:23.680 Now, one is a faithful slave. 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:26.559 That's the genuine born-again Christian. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:37.119 The hypocrite is someone who professes Christ with their lips, but doesn't actually believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord. 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:49.599 Now the point of this is that in light of the second coming, Jesus says that the faithful slave will live righteously. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:52.319 He'll do what he's supposed to do. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:58.319 He'll take the food, the master's food, and he'll dispense it properly to the servants. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:12.160 So Jesus is saying the genuine believer will live righteously so that when Jesus returns, they will be found to be righteous by him. 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:19.279 The professor, the hypocrite, they say, Well, that's a long way off. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:21.440 It's free grace. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:24.319 I've believed in Jesus, I can live however I want. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:30.880 And he withholds the food from the servants. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:36.720 And Jesus says he will return in an hour that he does not expect. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:45.200 And this is language that Jesus all the time used to describe what you would call hell or later the lake of fire. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:48.640 He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.359 In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:25:53.599 --> 00:26:03.039 The point is, Jesus is saying, in light of the second coming, his disciples will live righteously. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:04.480 That's the point. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:06.319 Second parable. 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:08.720 Really a fascinating parable. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:11.519 That there's so much spiritual truth in this next parable. 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:18.880 You could study it in a number of different messages, but it's the parable of the ten virgins. 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:24.319 And again, this parable illustrates those waiting on the return of Christ. 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:27.839 And in the parable, Jesus is compared to a bridegroom. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:31.039 And the bridegroom is not yet at the wedding party. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:35.599 So the bridal party would be at the bride's house. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:41.279 And they would be awaiting the bridegroom to come from the groom's house to the bridal house. 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:46.160 And normally the wedding ceremonies would happen at the bride's house. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:48.960 And in this case, this is the wedding party. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:52.160 There are ten virgins, they are the bridesmaids. 00:26:52.400 --> 00:27:00.720 And the tradition would be that they would go out and meet the bridegroom and accompany the bridegroom to the wedding. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:05.039 And if it was night, they would light torches to do this. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:11.279 And so an ancient torch would be a long piece of bronze or some type of metal. 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:22.480 On top, you would put, kind of like Indiana Jones, you'd put a cloth up there and you would douse it in oil, and the oil would keep the cloth from burning up. 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:27.599 So you would want the oil to be burning, not the cloth. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:52.640 So you would put oil there, you would light it, and then you could walk for a long time, or at least until that oil all burned up, and then the cloth would start to burn, and then trimming the wicks, if you will, that's you're trimming off the part of the cloth that has been charred, and then you're re-soaking that cloth in oil so that it will keep burning. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:59.440 Now, same principle that Jesus taught with the unrighteous and the righteous slave. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:06.880 Now, the ten bridesmaids, the ten virgins, they're the professing church. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:10.480 These aren't pagans here. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:12.480 These are professors. 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:20.799 And he says, five are faithful, and five are foolish. 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:22.960 Five are wise, five are foolish. 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:30.480 And they go out, and there's a period where it seems like the bridegroom has been delayed, and they all fall asleep. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:35.680 And maybe there's something to read into that about the church not being awake. 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:51.920 But suddenly the bridegroom is there, and the five wise virgins, they wake up, they put oil on their lamps, they get them lit, and then the five foolish virgins are saying, Hey, can we borrow some oil? 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:53.359 They say we don't have enough oil. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:29:10.960 So they have to run to the market, and by that time the bridegroom goes with the wise virgins into the banquet hall, and then by the time the foolish virgins come, the door is shut, and it's too late. 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:13.759 By the way, what's going on in the banquet hall? 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:15.599 A party. 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:18.319 A banquet. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:20.720 The marriage supper of the Lamb. 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:23.759 That's what we're invited to. 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:27.200 So, what's the point of the parable? 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:34.480 What's the singular point about what distinguished the wise virgins from the foolish? 00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:37.839 They lived alertly. 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.039 In other words, they they they were ready. 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:44.400 Football, we used to say, keep your head on the swivel. 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:50.559 You know, that the receiver, he's not running for ice cream, he's going to the you you will you watch. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:56.079 They were watchful, they were ready, they were alert. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:08.079 If you look at verse 13. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:16.160 He says, Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:17.759 That's the point. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:23.519 You live with your soul ready to meet the Lord. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:37.200 No unfinished business, no unrepentant sin, no secrets in the closet, but you are ready. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:42.720 You live ready to meet the Lord. 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:54.160 And then this third parable, sometimes called the parable of the talents, or you could say the parable of the stewards. 00:30:55.680 --> 00:31:01.680 So you so the first one, the righteous and the unrighteous slave, teaches you to live righteously. 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:12.000 The second parable teaches you to live alertly, and then this third parable teaches you to live faithfully. 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:13.519 Faithfully. 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:19.440 Jesus says, this is what this period in time of redemptive history is like. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:27.359 He says, it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:28.960 Who does the man represent? 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:30.400 Obviously, Jesus. 00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:32.079 Jesus has gone on a journey. 00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:36.079 He has gone to the right hand of the Father, where he rules and reigns in heaven. 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:41.759 And he has entrusted his servants with talents who are his servants. 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:42.960 That would be us. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:48.240 A talent is a massive sum of money. 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:53.039 Today it would be equivalent to six to eight hundred thousand dollars. 00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:57.920 It's probably the amount of money that it would take a worker to earn in 10 to 12 years. 00:31:58.319 --> 00:31:59.920 It's a massive investment. 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:04.880 And Jesus says, this is what the kingdom of heaven is like now. 00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:07.200 He says, Jesus has gone. 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:19.519 Verse 15, he says he gives to one slave five talents, to another two, to another one, each according to his ability, and then he goes away. 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:25.839 He says, He who received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:35.440 So also he had two talents, made two talents more, but he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:37.279 In other words, he does nothing. 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:38.240 Nothing. 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:40.319 What does he do with God gives him? 00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:41.200 Nothing. 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:42.559 Absolutely nothing. 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:47.519 Verse 19, after a long time, the master of those servants came. 00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:49.440 That's the second coming. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:51.759 Settled accounts with them. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:33:01.039 He who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents. 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:03.039 Here I made five talents more. 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:09.039 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over little, I will set you over much. 00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:11.680 Enter into the joy of your master. 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:18.640 And he also, he who had the two talents, came forward, saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents. 00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:21.440 Here I have made two talents more. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:24.720 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:27.680 You've been faithful over little, I will set you over much. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:29.680 Enter into the joy of your master. 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:45.680 In other words, what you do with your time, your talent, your treasure now matters for the position and reward that you will have in heaven. 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:46.960 Do you see that? 00:33:47.279 --> 00:34:00.079 How you steward the talents that you have now is indicative of what you will be given to steward at the final judgment in the eternal kingdom. 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:02.160 It's amazing to think about. 00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:22.000 But, he says, Verse 24, he who also had received the one talent came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:24.719 Here, you have what is yours. 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:41.760 But his master answered him, You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I scattered no seed, then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was mine own with interest. 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:46.639 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:56.000 For every one who has more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 00:34:56.159 --> 00:35:00.159 And again, the same judgment as before. 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:04.559 This is the final wrath of God. 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:08.159 He says, cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. 00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:11.760 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:13.199 Here's the point. 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:20.960 Those that are true believers, those have received grace, they will be faithful. 00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:22.719 They will be faithful. 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:26.320 Obviously, to different degrees, that's part of Jesus' teaching. 00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:29.199 Some with the five talents, they're faithful with that. 00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:31.280 Those with the two talents, they're faithful with that. 00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:40.320 So we shouldn't look and compare, but nevertheless, with the genuine Christian, there will be faithfulness with what Jesus has given. 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:41.599 There will be generosity. 00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:44.159 They will love to give to the church. 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:46.960 There will be a willingness to serve of my time. 00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:49.039 Yes, I want to give my time to evangelize. 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:51.760 I want to give my time to serve with the children. 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:54.639 I want to give my time to Jesus. 00:35:56.559 --> 00:36:00.960 By the way, does anything that you have actually belong to you? 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:01.519 No. 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:05.519 The day that you have tomorrow, is it yours? 00:36:05.840 --> 00:36:06.159 No. 00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:12.639 Everything that we own belongs to Him. 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:20.880 And we have been called to be faithful, Jesus said. 00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:23.760 So Jesus teaches three parables. 00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:27.679 He says, you better live righteously in light of the fact that I'm going to return. 00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:31.920 You better live alertly in light of the fact that I'm going to return. 00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:39.519 And third, you better live faithfully in light of the fact that I will return. 00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:44.480 And that's the ethical framework that Paul is thinking about. 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:47.360 If you turn back, that was the excursus. 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:50.960 So turn back to the right to Titus. 00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:55.199 So Paul is thinking, okay, this is historical. 00:36:55.599 --> 00:36:59.440 He is going to appear in history. 00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:00.960 Second, this is ethical. 00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:02.800 It matters then how we live. 00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:10.480 The fact that he's going to return, it trains us to renounce ungodliness and to live for him. 00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:24.159 And then the greatest aspect of Paul's thinking is found here at the end of verse 13, this final phrase, and this is the doxological framework of Paul's thinking. 00:37:24.400 --> 00:37:28.480