Come Again

Amen.

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Titus.

We are continuing our series in the book of Titus this morning,

and we will be in chapter 2, verses 11 through 15 this morning.

Chapter 2, verses 11 through 15.

If you're using the few Bibles there in front of you, you can find that on page 938.

So if you did not bring a Bible of your own, it'll be here on the screen behind me,

but I encourage you to have a Bible open in front of you,

because we'll be flipping around a few other places as well,

and you can find that on page 938.

Titus 2, 11 through 15. Follow along with me as I read.

For the grace of God has appeared,

bringing salvation for all people,

training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,

and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

waiting for our blessed hope,

the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness,

and to purify for himself a people for his own possession,

who are zealous for good works.

Declare these things.

Exhort and rebuke with all authority.

Let no one disregard you.

Let's pray once more.

Lord, this is your word.

Father, this word is so full of treasures for us to uncover

and explore and cherish.

And so we pray that we would do that now.

Would you help us to grasp,

for the first time or for the thousandth time,

help us to grasp the goodness of you and your glory,

the goodness of the doctrine of God.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

There is a poem that I think about often.

I don't know many poems,

but this is one of the few that I know.

It's one of my favorite quotes from John Bunyan.

It's not Paul Bunyan,

the big lumberjack with the big blue ox.

John Bunyan, the great Puritan.

It says this,

Run, John, run, the law demands,

but gives us neither feet nor hands.

Far better news the gospel brings.

It bids us fly and gives us wings.

Another version by Ralph Erskine.

It says it like this,

A rigid matter was the law,

demanding brick, denying straw.

But when with gospel tongue it sings,

it bids me fly and gives me wings.

Here's what it means.

The law, it makes demands,

but it provides no power to accomplish what it demands.

But the gospel provides both the power

and the capacity to live a life of godliness.

See, our capacity for godliness,

it does not come from us.

We can't muster up the strength to be godly.

We have no ability in ourself

to keep the law of God,

to please God on our own.

We have to look outward,

out of ourself.

That's called faith.

Looking outward,

out of yourself,

to find that strength.

You know, our passage this morning

begins with the word for.

You see that here in verse 11.

For the grace of God has appeared.

That word for is a connector.

It is connecting this passage,

our passage this morning,

to the passage right before it.

What Paul has just said right before it.

You know, sometimes we treat the Bible

like it's disconnected.

Like Paul somehow forgot

what he was saying last week,

and now he picks up

with some totally new thought this week,

and he's disconnected.

The Bible isn't written like that.

The Bible was written by people,

humans.

This book, Titus,

is a letter written by a person.

He was divinely inspired

by the Spirit of God, yes,

but he's a person

who uses words

in the same way that we do,

who uses thoughts

in the same way that we do,

who uses words to argue

in the same way that we do.

So when he says,

for the grace of God has appeared,

we know that he's given a reason.

He's given a basis,

an explanation,

a foundation

for what he has just commanded us

in our passage last week,

and we do this all the time.

Let's go get lunch,

for because I'm feeling hungry.

Let's go to bed,

for because I'm feeling tired.

Let's get dressed,

for because it's time

to go to church.

Paul has been building a case

here in the book of Titus

that faith accords

with godliness.

Christians should not,

like the Cretans were doing,

should not profess

to know God with our mouths,

but then deny him

with our actions.

If we say that we have received

new life in Christ,

but nothing is new

about our life,

Paul says something

is dramatically wrong.

And so Paul showed us last week

what godliness might look like

for us,

for every member of the church.

If you were here last week,

there was something

for all of us here

in chapter 2,

verses 1 through 10.

There was instructions

for old men,

young men,

older women,

younger women,

servants in the church,

and servants in the home.

Every single one of us

in Christ is called

to a life

that is distinct

from the world around us.

He gave us commands

last week.

But you may have left

last week wondering,

how do I do that?

How do I do that?

How could I possibly

live a godly life?

What's the basis

or the power

or the motivation

for living a life

like this?

Hopefully you didn't,

but you may have left

last week discouraged,

feeling like I could

never live up

to what Paul has described

here in verses 1 through 10.

So this morning,

Paul brings you good news.

He says,

for the grace of God

has appeared.

Last week he bid us fly,

this week he gives us wings.

And we should take note

here this morning

that this is distinctly different

from every other religion

in the world.

Every world religion

gives commands.

Every religion

gives instructions.

Every religion

has expectations.

No other religion

gives the power

to do it.

Every other religion

says,

hey, here's how you

get to our God.

Here's how you do it.

Good luck.

Earn it.

Do it.

Do better.

Try better.

Work harder.

Be better.

Be the best you can be

and maybe,

hopefully,

you'll make it.

Church,

we need to know

that's not how

Christianity works.

The gospel says

God saves.

God calls.

God trains.

God redeems.

God justifies.

God sanctifies.

God preserves.

God sustains.

God purifies.

God glorifies.

God.

God is about God.

And with that confidence

and that dependence

upon God,

we pursue godliness

as his children.

As his children.

No other religion

in the world

says anything

close to that.

Our passage

this morning,

it roots all

of our efforts

for godliness,

all of our pursuit

of the Lord,

all of our striving,

all of our labor

in the good news

of what God has done

and what God has promised

in the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

This gospel

is the motivation

and the power

for godly living.

So Paul gives us

two life-changing truths

here in our passage

this morning.

Two life-changing truths.

This is our outline

this morning.

If you're taking notes,

I encourage you

to follow along

this way.

This is our motivation

and our power

for godliness.

Two life-changing truths.

Christ has come

and Christ will come again.

Two life-changing truths.

If we understand

these two truths,

we will pursue

a life of godliness

here in the present age.

Two truths.

Christ has come

and Christ will come again.

First,

Paul says,

live this way,

be godly,

pursue godliness.

Why?

What's the basis

of our pursuit?

Verse 11,

he says,

for the grace of God

has appeared.

And so he says,

be holy,

pursue godliness,

for,

because,

here's the basis,

because Christ has come.

See,

Paul is looking backwards

to what we call

the incarnation of Christ.

He's talking about

the first coming

of Jesus.

The incarnation

of the son of God.

Christians,

we don't believe

that Jesus was just

another man,

just another good teacher,

just another religious figure.

We believe that

just over 2,000 years ago

a miracle happened.

The son of God

became man.

And Paul says,

your holiness now,

today,

in this present age,

is only possible

because of something

that happened

2,000 years ago.

But why is that?

What is it,

specifically,

about this event

2,000 years ago

that's still

transforming lives

today?

Look with me

to verse 11.

It is interesting,

isn't it,

that Paul is talking

about the coming

of Christ,

but he doesn't say

Christ has appeared,

does he?

What does he say?

The grace

of God

has appeared.

The grace

of God

has appeared.

The first

coming of Christ

is synonymous

with the appearing

of God's grace.

Of course,

God's grace

has appeared

all throughout

the Old Testament.

This isn't the first

time we see

God's saving power,

God's grace

appearing here.

God has graciously

promised and called

and redeemed Israel.

He's made

gracious promises

to Noah

and Abraham

and David

all throughout

the Old Testament.

His grace is

all over every page.

But the appearing

of Christ

is the clearest

and most spectacular

appearing

of the grace

of God.

This isn't just

grace extended

as it was

in the Old Testament,

this is grace

embodied

in the person

of Christ.

Now,

at risk of

overstatement

here,

there may not be

a more easily

misunderstood,

quickly polarizing,

toxically abused

doctrine

than the doctrine

of God's grace.

Now,

it is important

that we get this

right.

And one of the reasons

why I love

the Apostle Paul

is he is all the time

correcting

our misunderstandings

of God's grace

and showing us

how to live

in light

of that grace

of God

for the glory

of God.

So look with me

again at verse 11

and we see two functions

of God's grace

here in this verse.

Two functions

of God's grace.

Grace saves

and grace trains.

Grace saves

and grace trains.

He says here,

verse 11,

the grace of God

has appeared

bringing salvation

for all people

and training us

to renounce

ungodliness

and worldly passions

and to live

self-controlled,

upright,

godly lives

in the present age.

See,

you gotta have both here.

You can't have

just one.

God's grace

came saving

and God's grace

came training.

Paul says,

grace came

bringing salvation

for all people.

That promise

that God made

to the Jews

in the Old Testament,

I will be your God

and you will be

my people

is now through Christ

extended to all peoples

of the earth.

That's good news

for us Gentiles,

right?

Amen?

Amen?

On the basis

of Christ's perfect obedience,

his sacrificial death

on the cross

in our place,

in the place of sinners,

his victorious resurrection

from the grave

received by grace

through faith,

all people can be saved

from the condemnation

and the eternal damnation

earned from their sin.

Now,

not every individual

will be saved.

When he says,

grace came bringing salvation

for all people,

don't get hung up there.

That doesn't mean

that every individual person

will be saved.

only those who hear

the good news of Christ,

only those who hear

the words of the gospel

and respond with saving

faith and repentance

in Christ Jesus

will be saved.

He's not saying

all people will be saved.

What he's saying here

is that there are

no ethnic,

racial,

social,

regional,

political limitations

on the grace of God.

God.

This grace is made available

to all the peoples

of the earth.

And so we pray

every Sunday morning.

We pray.

Not just for what's going on

here in Allendal,

not just for what's going on

in South Carolina.

We pray every week

for the nations.

And you might notice,

often we pray

for a people group

in a specific nation.

A people group.

We prayed last week

for the people of Macau.

And specifically,

in Macau,

we prayed for the people group

the Hui people group.

The Hui people group.

They're a frontier people.

That means that

they have never heard

the gospel.

They have zero access

to the gospel.

To our knowledge,

no one from the people group,

the Hui people group,

have ever heard

the name Jesus.

And they have zero access

to it on their own.

So someone must go.

The word must come to them.

They'll perish without it.

I don't know

how many people

God will choose to save

from the Hui people group.

But I do know

that every tribe,

tongue,

and nation

will be gathered

around the throne

of God in glory.

He's promised us that.

That's what grace accomplished

in the first coming of Christ.

And so we pray.

And so we send missionaries.

So we support

missionary efforts.

So we proclaim the gospel

in every corner of the earth

with the confidence

that God will do

what he's promised.

He will save

all the peoples

of the earth.

That's what Paul's saying here.

Christ came.

The grace of God came

bringing salvation

for all the peoples

of the earth.

So we can say it like this.

Not every person

will be saved

without distinction.

No, excuse me.

Run that back.

Run that back.

Not every person

will be saved

without exception,

but all peoples

will be saved

without distinction.

Say that again.

Not every person

will be saved

without exception,

meaning all peoples

are saved,

but all peoples

will be saved

without distinction.

even you.

Even me.

Here's what this means

for us, church.

No one in this room

can say,

man, I wish I could get in

on that saving grace of God,

but I don't qualify.

Christ's perfect life,

not for me.

His sacrificial death,

not for me.

I'm too old.

I don't fit the criteria here.

I'm too poor.

I don't fit the criteria here.

I vote this way.

I act this way.

I come from this background.

I've done this.

I've done that.

I'm addicted to this.

I'm addicted to that.

Whatever the excuse may be,

church,

grace by definition

is undeserved.

The very definition

of grace

means you don't fit

the criteria.

The only criteria here

is that you know

you don't deserve

what God is giving to you

in Christ.

You cannot earn His grace

or it's no longer grace.

I shared this example

with someone the other day

trying to explain this to them.

This is like if a child

does something they know

they shouldn't do.

Okay, this is my life.

All right?

This is where my mind goes

with illustrations.

Y'all bear with me.

The parent saw it

the whole way up and down.

They know there's no denying it.

Something wrong has happened.

The child knows

that they deserve punishment.

They know that they've messed up.

They've been caught in the act.

But as an act of mercy,

the parent says,

I will withhold

the punishment you deserve.

That's mercy.

Withholding what you deserve.

Mercy, you don't get

what you deserve.

But grace goes a step further

than that, doesn't it?

Grace says,

I saw what you did.

I know you deserve punishment.

But instead,

I'm going to give you

the biggest slice of cake

I can fit on this plate.

I'm going to reward you

as if you had obeyed perfectly.

You deserve punishment,

but instead,

you get a big old slice of cake

because I love you.

I'm going to reward you

as if you never did anything wrong,

as if you're absolutely perfect.

That's grace.

Mercy holds back

what you do deserve,

namely punishment

for your sin.

Grace gives you

what you could never deserve.

The blessing

and the favor of God.

Salvation from our sin

and eternal life

in Christ Jesus,

our Lord.

God's grace saves.

But not only that,

we don't stop there.

God's grace trains.

Look to verse 11 again.

Look to verse 11 again.

He says,

The grace of God

has appeared,

bringing salvation

for all people

and training us

to renounce ungodliness

and worldly passions

and to live self-controlled,

upright,

and godly lives

in the present age.

See,

the grace of God

came saving

and the grace of God

came training.

You can't have one

without the other.

This is what we've been seeing

all through the book of Titus,

isn't it?

If you have been given

the gift of salvation,

you have been enrolled,

enlisted,

you have been given

the gift of sanctification.

And that pace

and that progress

may look different

from person to person,

Christian to Christian,

but the trajectory

is the same.

Everyone who's been saved

by grace

will be trained by grace

for godliness

in the present age.

In other words,

Jesus Christ

did not just come

to save you

and leave you

as you are.

Jesus Christ

came to save you

and to change

who you are.

He did not come

to save you

and leave you

as you are.

Come as you are

to Christ

and expect

that he will transform you

from the inside out.

You will not be the same.

Jesus Christ

did not come

just to save you.

He came to transform you.

That change process,

it begins

the moment

you put your faith

in Christ,

but that's not the end

for us, Christian.

It continues all the way

until either we die

or Christ returns.

Your coming to faith

in Christ

was the beginning

of your Christian walk.

It's not the end.

It's the beginning.

We've all been enrolled

in a lifelong training program

called sanctification.

That means you are

being made holy.

We've not arrived, church.

There are parts of you

and there are parts of me

that need changing.

Praise God,

by his grace,

he's doing it.

Do not buy cheap grace

that saves

but does not train.

Christians are those

who, because of God's saving grace,

welcome God's training grace

in their lives.

And so we say things like,

I'm struggling

with this particular sin.

Can you help me?

Will you pray for me?

I can't seem

to put this to death.

I'm wrestling

with this in my life.

I can't seem

to understand it

but I know God

is at work in me.

He's working in me

through this.

He's training me.

Christians depend

on God's grace

to save

and his grace

to train.

We don't say things

like,

I'm good

just the way I am.

Thank you.

I don't need any help.

Thank you.

No change needed here.

I'm fine.

I said my prayer

when I was 10

and that's it for me.

Now I check out

and I just got

the free pass to glory.

I'm good.

Thank you.

No.

No change needed here.

One sign

that God's grace

is at work in you

is that you begin

to realize

how much you need it

every day.

Every day.

you begin to depend on it.

You want more of God

not less.

You want less of sin

not more.

You begin to realize

that by God's grace

not on your own strength

and not on your own effort

not your own grit

but by God's grace alone

you can say no to sin.

Church, that's a miracle.

And you want to do it.

By God's grace alone

you can say no to anger.

By God's grace

you can say no

to drunkenness.

You can say no

to sexual addiction

to pornography.

You can say no

to gossip

and to slander.

You can say no

to divisive behavior.

You can say no

to laziness

or gluttonousness.

You have been rescued

from slavery to sin

and now are being trained

in godliness.

So we pursue it

by the grace of God.

God.

If you want to grow

in godliness

remember

Christ has come

to save

and to train.

But not only that

second

remember Christ

will come

again.

The second life

changing truth

here in our passage.

Christ has come

and Christ

will come

again.

If we want to be

moved and

motivated

toward godliness

we not only

look backwards

to what Christ

has done

we must also

look forward

to what's

to come.

Christ

will come

again.

Look with me

to verse 13.

Verse 13 here.

Paul says

we are 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.

If you write

in your Bibles

I want you to

take a pen

and mark

these two things

down here.

If you're using

a pew Bible

go ahead and

write in that one

too.

That's okay.

Next person

can see this note.

I want you to

circle up

in verse 11

where it says

the grace

of God

has appeared

and then again

down in verse 13

where it says

the appearing

of the glory

of our great

God and Savior

Jesus Christ.

See these

these two

appearings

are everything

for us.

We have the

first appearing

the first coming

of Christ

appearing

bringing salvation

for undeserving

sinners

and then the

second coming

of Christ

the appearing

of the glory

of God

our risen Savior

who will come

and will finish

what he came

to do.

See our lives

are lived here

in the middle.

We're stuck

in the middle

between these

two comings.

We live in

between the two

advents of Christ.

That's the present

age that Paul

is talking about

here in verse 12

and so to live

godly lives

in this present

age here in the

middle.

Christians are

those who are

constantly looking

backwards to

the first coming

of Christ

looking backwards

to the first

appearing of

God's grace

grace embodied

and we are

looking forward

constantly in

hope of the

coming of

Christ the

appearing of

the glory of

God.

I remember

when I was

younger I'd be

willing to bet

I'm not alone

in this.

I was taught

that before you

cross the street

you need to

what?

Look both ways.

Yeah.

And sometimes

I'd even tell me

hey look that way

and then look that

way and then hey

you need to look

that way again.

Something might have

changed.

You gotta look

both ways.

And then you can

safely take a step

forward.

But it was clear

you don't just go

stepping without

looking.

And that's a recipe

for disaster.

You have to look

both ways before

you can safely

take a step

forward.

That's what Paul

is saying here.

Christian before

we can take a

single step

towards Christ

likeness.

Before we can

take a single

step towards

godliness.

We can't do it

without looking

both ways.

To the grace

of God that

has come and

to the glory

of God that

is to come.

If you want

to take a step

forward in

godliness

this is where

you look first.

first.

Then you can

take a step.

Then you can

safely progress.

Paul says here

in verse 13

he says we are

waiting for our

blessed hope.

We are waiting

for his coming.

We are waiting.

Christians by

definition are a

waiting people.

And I know I'm

not the only one

in the room who

doesn't like to

wait.

Amen?

Amen?

But this isn't

waiting like you

wait for a hurricane.

I don't think I

was the only one

my wife and I

who stayed up

Thursday evening

watching the

radar waiting

waiting

waiting

waiting

when is he

going to get

here?

What's he

going to do?

Woke up Friday

morning wind

rain

check the radar

again check the

forecast waiting

is it going to

get worse?

Is it going to

do more damage?

What kind of

destruction is this

going to bring?

We don't wait

like that for the

coming of Christ.

Christ.

Unbelievers ought

to wait like that

for the coming of

Christ.

But for us in

Christ this is a

hopeful waiting.

It is a hopeful

waiting.

Not wishful waiting

it is the Christian

hope.

The Christian hope

is certain.

This is good news.

Christ will return.

Christ will accomplish

what he set out to

accomplish.

Christ will finish

what he began in

you and we are to

wait for it with

patience and the

Bible says with

eagerness.

You know one of the

most common ways

that the Bible talks

about the second

coming of Christ

is eagerness.

I want to take you

to just a few

passages here.

You can mark this

down for later.

Eagerness.

Are you eager for

the return of Christ?

Romans 8 23

says not only the

creation but we

ourselves who have

the first fruits of

the spirit grown

inwardly as we

wait eagerly for

our adoption as

sons.

The redemption of

our bodies.

You hear that word?

Eager.

Galatians 5 5 for

through the spirit

by faith we

ourselves eagerly

wait for the hope

of righteousness.

That's what we're

waiting for.

The hope of

righteousness is

coming.

Are we are we

eager for it to

come?

Hebrews 9 28

So Christ having

been offered once

to bear the sins

of many that's

his first coming

Christ Christ came

to save grace

appeared to save

to bear the sins

of many will appear

a second time not

to deal with sin but

to save those who

are eagerly waiting

for him.

See we are eagerly

waiting our final

salvation the

fulfillment of what

he came to do.

This is a joyful a

happy and eager a

hopeful a joy filled

waiting and it's it's

difficult not because

we dread what's coming

but because we cannot

wait for it to get

here.

I saw on the news

again as I'm sure

many of you did there

were people stranded

in Florida because of

the hurricane out

standing on the top

of their cars waiting

for help to come.

Christian are waiting

as if we were were

stranded here waiting

for deliverance to

come.

Knowing it has been

promised knowing knowing

he's kind of he's

going to come he's

going to arrive we

don't know when we

don't know at what

moment he'll be here

but he will come he

will come he will

rescue us he will

come and so we wait

with eager anticipation

how eager are you for

his return.

Does it consume your

thoughts and influence

your actions you know

if we if we really set

our our minds and our

thoughts and our hearts

there thought hard had

our hearts full of

longing for this this

return of Christ I'm

certain there would be

an explosive difference

in the way we go about

our lives.

see our holiness is fueled

by our eagerness not only

is this a hopeful waiting

it is also a holy waiting

our holiness this holiness

that that Paul is calling

us to it's fueled by

eagerness waiting longing

looking anticipating the

return of Christ we've

already spent time here so

I won't belabor the

point but it's clear Paul

he's bringing it up again

here and he reminds us

again in verse 14 of why

Christ came what Christ

came to do look at verse

14 says he gave himself

for us to redeem us from

all unlawing it from all

lawlessness and to purify

for himself a people for

his own possession to save

you and to change you to

make you holy to to redeem

you and to purify you those

he came to save he promises

to purify so that we would

profess to know him with our

mouths and adorn the doctrine

of God with our actions and

so our time of waiting now

church is a time of being made

holy he will not leave you as

you are two main ways that

this happens in our lives one

is what happens to us I'll

tell you something that you

already know that terrible

things happen to everyone in

this life believer non-believer

tall short rich poor all of us

suffer in this life becoming a

Christian will not protect you

from suffering quite the

opposite but what a difference

it makes for us in Christ to be

able to to look ahead and to

know and to remember that Christ

will return that he's coming to

make all things right that we may

not understand and and may not

quite grasp what God is doing but

we know that God is at work that

he's using every trial in the

present age to prepare his

people for glory for the

believer in Christ God is using

every second every every

moment every trial that we

endure to purify you in Christ

and to prepare you for eternity

with him so Christians we

believe that all of our lives

every moment is ordained by God

for our good and for his glory he

is purifying us for himself and

what this means Christian is that our

trials are not meaningless God is at

work your sickness is not meaningless

your suffering is not meaningless your

struggle is not meaningless God is at

work I know there are are many in our

church family who are are struggling

with all sorts of of sickness all

sorts of loss all sorts of of

suffering if you are in Christ you are

walking through purifying fire God is

preparing you for the glory to come are

you paying attention are you looking for

what he's doing in you the second way

that we grow in purity the second way

that we grow in holiness in this

present age is by our own active

pursuit of it by our own active

pursuit of it by the grace of God God

gives us the desire to grow gives us

the desire to pursue him and so we take

it upon ourselves to commit to pursuing

him through the ordinary means of grace

Bible reading prayer confessing sin

corporate worship gathering with other

saints together committing to to walk

alongside other believers this is what

D.A. Carson calls grace driven effort I

love this quote from D.A. Carson he says

this people do not drift towards holiness

apart from grace driven effort people do

not gravitate toward godliness prayer

obedience to scripture faith and delight

in the Lord we drift toward compromise and

call it tolerance we drift toward

disobedience and call it freedom we

drift toward superstition and call it

faith we cherish the indiscipline of lost

self-control and call it relaxation we

slouch toward prayerlessness and delude

ourselves into thinking we have escaped

legalism we slide toward godlessness and

convince ourselves we have been liberated

you know another way we misunderstand the

grace of God is to say we don't have to do

anything it's all of God it's all God's

grace I can sit back and relax I don't

need to to pray I don't need to open my

Bible I don't need to share my faith I

don't have to pursue godliness that sounds

a lot like the Cretans doesn't it that

sounds a lot like the error here in Crete no

God's grace empowers your pursuit of

godliness God's grace is what undergirds and

empowers all of your efforts to please him it

is God who works in you to will and to work for

his good pleasure church you will not grow in

godliness apart from grace driven effort

let's not deceive ourselves church if we are

not pursuing godliness we are not neutral

and we will not drift towards holiness our

natural drift is away from the Lord I'll tell

you I tend to drift more towards television

easier than I drift towards opening my Bible

I'll be honest with you I drift more towards

looking at my phone than I do towards prayer

it's discipline it's grace driven discipline

that will will bring about the change that we

need to see in our lives as we pursue the Lord

together how can you grow in grace driven effort

what are some areas of of of slack that we can shore up

this week with grace driven effort it is hopeful it is holy and finally one more

here this is a helpful waiting this is to be a a helpful waiting

Paul says he gave himself to redeem us to purify for himself a people for his own

possession who are zealous for good works this is one of the effects of God's grace in us he makes a

people who are zealous for good works in other words Christ Christ came to create a people who share

and extend the heart of God to others and while we wait for Christ to return we're not sitting on

our hands and and biding our time and watching the the minutes on the clock roll by we are to be actively seeking ways to do good works to be helpful

to be helpful

now Christians ought to care more about doing good works than anybody else in the world

and we ought to expend ourselves more for the good of others than anyone else in the world not because we earn God's favor by our good works

but because as we experience the life-changing grace of God in our lives as we experience his goodness towards us in Christ we can't help but extend that same grace and love and kindness to others around us

we are saved by faith alone as Martin Luther says but the faith that saves is never alone

have you heard that quote before we are saved by faith alone but the faith that saves is never alone he means it's always accompanied by good works

Christ came to create zealots for good works those who are passionate about about extending the heart of God to others

church Christ will return and he will reward every good work done for his glory in the present age and so we we live every day in the present age in light of that coming day when Christ will appear

and the glory of God will be made manifest

one practical thing for us to pray I think this week

Lord make us zealous for good works

it's a dangerous prayer but I encourage you to pray

Lord make me zealous for good works show me what the needs are around me show me how I can love my neighbor as myself

show me how I can be selfless show me how I can how I can exhibit the love of Christ towards others this week

let me show the power of your grace by my godliness and by my good works

let our light so shine before others

that they may see our good works and give glory to our father who is in heaven

amen

the book of Titus

calls you

Christian

to be distinct

not just in our pursuit of godliness but in the basis of our pursuit

we don't seek to earn our way to God by our goodness

our chances of earning God's approval

earning God's pleasure do not change one decimal point with our holiness

with our self-improvement rather we rest on the good news of the gospel

run John run the law demands but gives us neither feet nor hands

far better news the gospel brings which bids us fly and gives us wings

see our salvation

and our sanctification are found in the fact that Christ

has come

the grace of God

has appeared and our

our certain hope of glory

our hope that that Christ will accomplish what he came to do is found in the fact that

that God's glory is coming

the second coming

of Christ

all of grace

church

we're going to stand

and sing in just a moment a hymn that

I know is familiar

that's everyone in the room

we've probably sung this a thousand times

before but I want you to consider these words as we sing them

don't let it just be routine

repetition

let it be worship

worship him for the truths of what we sing

amazing grace

how sweet the sound

grace

that saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now I'm found

was blind

but now I see

grace saving

grace redeeming

grace rescuing

it was grace that taught my heart to fear

and grace my fears relieved

how precious did that grace appear

the hour I first believed

grace training

grace teaching

grace comforting

grace assuring

through many dangers

toils and snares

I have already come

the

tis grace that brought me safe thus far

and grace will lead me home

grace preserving

grace sustaining

grace

grace drawing us

bringing us all the way

through the trial

to

glory

when we've been there

ten thousand years

bright shining as the sun

we have no less days

grace to sing God's praise

than when we first begun

grace glorifying

grace exulting

in the glory of God

let's pray

father we praise you

for your grace at work in us

who believe

we praise you that

godliness is not

something that we could ever

dream up on our own

that our efforts though they're weak

lord

father we pray and we thank you

we praise you that you've provided

everything we need for life and godliness

through the gospel of Christ

and father if there are any

here who have not yet received that

saving grace we pray even now

that you would

you would call them draw them to

yourself

and for the rest of us lord we pray

for growth in godliness

for your glory

we ask in Christ's name

amen