Mission Month - The missionary message of Christmas

All right, very good.

If you have your Bibles, let's turn back to Titus chapter 2.

Titus 2 · chapter mention

And I'm going to be spending some time this evening in verses 11 to 14.

Titus chapter 2.

Titus 2 · chapter mention

Of course, for those of you who don't know me, my name is John Carter.

I am a minister of the gospel in a sister denomination to the Free Church of Scotland.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to minister the word tonight.

Before we open up the word, let's ask the Lord's blessing on the preaching of his word, shall we?

Holy Spirit, once again, we humble ourselves before you and before your word,

asking you to do your divine work in our hearts, that we would not merely read words on a page,

but that this would be words of light and life, even the everlasting words of the gospel.

Help us to live these words out to the greater glory of Christ our Savior, in whose name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So, when Pastor James asked if I would preach tonight,

he wanted me to tie in the message into the general theme of missions for Missions Month.

And I wanted to do that, but at the same time,

I was giving some thought to what is on people's minds.

How can we speak from the word to what people are actually dealing with?

And as you can see here in Edinburgh, if you look around,

it seems like Christmas is on everybody's mind already.

My goodness, I think no one does Christmas quite like Edinburgh.

I've never been here before, but I've never seen Christmas like this.

I come from the States, as you can tell from the strange foreign accent,

but I've seen Christmas markets in the U.S.

Nothing like this.

Christmas decorations, but nothing like this.

Holy smoke.

What is it about Christmas in Scotland?

Maybe it's after being banned for 400 years,

you guys are having the equal but opposite reaction.

But no one does Christmas quite like Edinburgh,

at least from my experience, in the U.S.

Now, in the U.S., I'm sure you are aware

of some of the culture wars that's going on in our country.

There is what some would call a war on Christmas in America.

And by that, I mean the very word Christmas is supposedly offensive

to many people who don't share our faith.

And so what you have in America, which I find so strange, so odd,

but everyone wants to cut out the word Christmas

and replace it with the very inoffensive word holiday.

So you might be invited to a holiday party.

People wish you the best holiday season.

Instead of saying Merry Christmas, do they do this in the U.K.?

They don't say Merry Christmas.

They say Happy Holidays.

Happy Holidays is much more inoffensive.

You might have your children at home baking holiday cookies,

and you put up a holiday tree in your home.

Of course, you can't call it a Christmas tree

because that might be offensive.

But, of course, all of this begs the question,

what holiday are we talking about?

It's the unnamed holiday that no one wants to actually say

of obviously it's Christmas.

Christmas.

But in America, we observe Christmas, even today,

not only as a religious festival, but as a nation.

We recognize Christmas as a national event.

It's a nationally recognized federal holiday

approved by the United States Congress.

It was signed into law by President Grant.

And that's why I was rather shocked recently

when I heard that a school district in Georgia

was sued to get the words Christmas holiday

taken off of the school's calendar.

The plaintiffs demanded that the words winter holiday

be substituted.

And they won in court.

And that just amazes me because the last time I checked,

President Grant did not sign legislation

making winter holiday a federal day off.

No, he signed into law of a Christmas holiday.

Now, unfortunately, that case in Georgia

is representative of a wider movement across America

to purge any remnant of the Christian religion

from public life in the States.

From lawsuits over the Ten Commandments

to the Pledge of Allegiance,

because, of course, the American Pledge of Allegiance

says that we are one nation under God,

which is offensive to so many.

And it seems to be escalating.

Now, the city of Las Cruces in New Mexico

is facing a lawsuit to change the name of the city.

Because, as you know, Las Cruces in Spanish means the cross.

And I guess if they win, we better watch out,

because now what are you going to do

about all the rest of the cities?

San Francisco, San Antonio, all the rest.

How about Corpus Christi in Texas?

I mean, I wonder, where is all this hostility

towards the Christian faith coming from?

Why the hostility towards Christmas in particular?

Because Christmas, ultimately,

when you boil it down to its essence,

it's the most wonderful message in the world.

And this is where I wanted to sort of tie it

into our missionary message,

because the missionary message is that

a Savior has appeared, offering salvation to all.

And we'll talk about that in verse 11

when we get into the text here.

But you get the idea here

that ultimately the Christian message,

the message of Christmas,

the message of the incarnation,

is a wonderful message.

I mean, who can argue it?

Peace on earth, goodwill to men.

I mean, in a nutshell, what's Christmas about?

It's about love and joy and peace and hope.

How are these things so offensive?

Ultimately, it's a message about grace.

It's about blessing and favor from God

because of the sacrifice of our Savior.

I pray that you don't lose sight of that

here in Edinburgh

in the middle of all the hustle and bustle

of the Christmas season.

And that brings us to our proposition statement tonight.

All right, so Dr. Carter,

what's the sermon about in a single sentence?

Well, here it is.

The message,

the missionary message of Christmas

is grace.

And that's what we have here in our text.

And I hope you'll see that

as we begin to unpack this text.

Now, we've already read the overall passage,

but I want to zero in on verse 11.

If you'll look at verse 11,

we'll pick up there.

The apostle writes,

for the grace of God

has been revealed,

bringing salvation to all people.

Now, I realize I may be reading

from a different translation

than what you have there in your laps,

but you get the idea.

What are we getting at?

Point number one, Christmas grace.

The grace of our missionary message

is the grace of salvation, verse 11.

Now, when we say grace,

what are we talking about?

So often when you hear the word grace,

you say,

oh, well, that's unmerited favor, right?

What's the grace of God?

It's unmerited favor.

That's as good as far as it goes.

But I would say it's even more than that.

It's not just unmerited favor,

but rather it's favor in spite of demerit.

That's Christian grace.

Grace is the greatest gift of God

bestowed upon those

who are deserving of the greatest punishment.

It's God's power working in your life

even though you don't deserve it.

God's favor, God's blessing in your life

even though you don't deserve it.

Now, our text tells us here in verse 11

that this grace of salvation

has finally appeared.

There's that word that's related to Advent.

Now, you realize that most Reformed churches

don't follow the so-called liturgical calendar

very closely,

but if you do follow the liturgical calendar,

you realize that we're not in the Christmas season right now.

We're in the season of Advent, right?

Advent is all about anticipation.

It's about waiting.

It's about expectation.

Now, here in verse 11,

it's talking about how this grace has appeared.

It's here.

The word comes from the same root

as the word epiphany,

meaning appearance or manifestation.

You see, the light of the world

has come to those who dwell in darkness.

Jesus is the light of the world, right?

John chapter 8, verse 12.

John 8:12

I am the light of the world.

He who follows me shall not walk in darkness,

but shall have the light of life.

And our verse here tells us

that this appearance is salvation bringing.

Now, who is this salvation offered to?

Of course, we know it's offered

to those who dwell in darkness, right?

It's offered to all men.

Look at verse 11.

Who does it go out to?

It goes out to all.

And that's the glory of our missionary message,

that it doesn't exclude anybody,

the glory of Christmas,

that this message of God's grace and favor

goes out to all.

Not to some.

Not just to the whites or to the blacks

or to the Asians,

but it goes out to everyone.

Now, the text tells us here in verse 11,

for this grace has appeared.

And that word for ties this verse

into what has gone before here in the chapter.

It ties it into the previous list.

Who did he come for?

Well, it comes for the older men in verse 2.

The older women in verse 3.

The younger women.

Husbands and children in verse 4.

The younger men in verse 6.

The servants in verse 9.

You see, that's who Christ came for.

The young, the old, the men and women,

the rich and the poor,

all people alike.

All are guilty before God.

And from them all,

he gathers his people.

He doesn't bypass the aged

because they're aged.

He doesn't bypass the women

because they're women.

No, it doesn't work like that.

All types of people

from every nation and race

and tongue and nationality

and tribe.

God's offer of salvation

extends to everyone

without discrimination.

It's what the theologians call

the free offer of the gospel.

Or the universal offer.

John 3, 16.

For God so loved the world

that he gave his only begotten son

that whosoever will

believe in him

shall not perish

but have everlasting life.

You see,

the grace of our missionary message,

the wonder of our missionary message

is this message of grace

going out and offered

to all.

You know,

the story's told

of a Scotchman

in the late 19th century

who arrived in

Liverpool, England

where he was to set sail

on a ship

bound for America.

And he reached in his pocket

and he looked carefully

at the pitifully small amount

of money that he had

and he decided

that he would

economize on food

during the trip

in order to have more money

on hand

when he got to New York.

And so he went

to a small store

and he bought a supply

of crackers and cheese

to see him through

the many days at sea.

But as the voyage progressed

he began to get tired

of eating the same thing

over and over again.

And to make matters worse

the dampness in the air

made his crackers soft

and his cheese hard

and just when he couldn't stand

to eat another cracker

he caught the smell

of fine turkey dinner

that a steward

was taking to another passenger.

And so the hungry man

made up his mind

that he would have

at least one good square meal

even though it might cost him

a little bit more

than what he thought

was responsible

for him to spend.

And so he waited

for the steward

to come back

and he asked him

how much it would cost

to go to the dining room

and get a dinner.

And the steward

was rather surprised

by the question

and asked the man

if he had a ticket.

And of course

the poor man

showed him his ticket

and that's when

the steward told him

that all the meals

were included

in the price

of the cruise.

He could have gone

to the dining room

at any time

and eaten as much

as he'd liked.

You know

sometimes I wonder

how often

we're like this

cheese and crackers man

thinking that

all the goodness

and grace of God

must surely go

to other people.

Certainly it wouldn't

be extended to me

but when we think

like this

it shows how

we don't understand

that Jesus Christ

came to offer

salvation to all

indiscriminately.

I mean how many

people today

live with this

soggy crackers

and rancid cheese

sort of mentality

instead of glorifying

God and enjoying

him forever.

Thinking that

Jesus Christ came

for those

with a first class

ticket.

You know

those who've got

it all together

the rich

and the powerful

or the young

and the beautiful

but Paul reminds us

in Romans

that he that spared

not his own son

but delivered him

up for us all

how shall you not

with him freely

give us all things?

Romans 8.32

You see everything

that is necessary

for a full

and complete life

with meaning

and purpose

and fulfillment

is found

in Jesus Christ

who paid

for all the passages

on the boat

of life

for us

with all the

meals included.

So I encourage you

to take a moment

tonight

and consider your own

heart.

Do you realize

that our missionary

message

that Christmas grace

is not merely

for the children

tonight?

It's not just for

the privileged

tonight

but it's for all.

Men

and women

young

and old

the rich

the poor

you see

Jesus Christ

was born

in Bethlehem

to offer

redemption

to all

for all

had fallen

into sin.

My goodness

if you didn't

have any sin

you'd have

no need

for a savior

you'd have

no need

for Christmas

grace

but the scripture

tells us

that all

have sinned

and fallen

short

of the glory

of God.

There's not

a righteous

man who

lives on earth

who continually

does what is

right

and never

sins

and that's

the good news

of Christmas

that this

redeemer

has come

that this

grace

according to

verse 11

has appeared

and it brings

salvation

to all.

So what will

you do

with the

Christ of

Christmas?

Well

you can receive

him

or you can

reject him

right

receive him

as scripture

tells us

to as many

as received

him

he gave

power

to become

the children

of God

first John

1 9

or you may

reject him

John 1 11

he came unto

his own

and his own

received him

not

it's up

to you

God calls

all men

everywhere

to repent

and receive

the Savior

point number

one

the grace

of Christmas

is the grace

of salvation

offered to

all

point number

two

let's move

on

take a look

at verse 12

and here you

see how the

grace of Christmas

is the grace

for Christian

living

pick up in

verse 12

the apostle

says

and we are

instructed to

turn from

godless living

and sinful

pleasures

and we should

live in this

evil world

with wisdom

righteousness

and devotion

to god

now

different

translations

will translate

the word

a little differently

here

the one that I

have here

says it

instructs us

your translation

may say it

trains us

but the idea

here is that

this grace

that is revealed

trains us

to

follow Christ

you see this is not

something that

comes automatically

now what does

come automatically

well

ungodliness

and worldly

passions

that comes

automatically

there is no

need in training

for that

you know

I have my

teenage son

here with us

tonight

and I remember

when he was

little

I never

funny thing

I never had

to train him

how to lie

somehow that

always

that just

came natural

I never had

to tell him

now listen son

when you want

to deceive

somebody

here is how

you do it

somehow he

figured that

out

no I had

to train him

how to tell

the truth

I never had

to train him

how to be

selfish

that come

natural

I think he

got it from

his mother's

side of the

family

I think

but I had

to train him

to learn to

share

you know

to tell the

truth

you see

self-control

doesn't come

natural

being out of

control

that's what

comes natural

living an

upright godly

life that

doesn't come

natural

the opposite

of that

is what

comes natural

that's why

we need

to be born

again

that's why

we need

to have

new hearts

where these

things do

become natural

you see

this grace

trains us

in godliness

as Paul

says elsewhere

how the law

serves as a

pedagogue

it's our

tutor or our

schoolmaster

to bring us

to Christ

you see

this grace

guides us

and it trains

us by the

means of grace

perhaps you've

heard that phrase

before the

means of grace

we're talking

about the word

and sacraments

and prayer

these are how

God works

in our lives

and these

things

these means

of grace

teach us

they chasten

us

they counsel

us

they comfort

us

they encourage

us in our

walk with

Christ

they admonish

us when we

need to be

admonished

and convicted

when we need

to be

convicted

but as we

apply the

means of

grace

we are

trained to

deny vice

and to

affirm

virtue

now notice

Paul's pattern

here in

verse 12

he gives you

the negative

and then the

positive

so first

negatively

we are to

renounce or

reject all

ungodliness

as he puts it

here

instructed to

turn from

godless living

and sinful

pleasures

right

the negative

side

we are to

repudiate

all sin

I mean

taking actual

action

no one

sleeps

their way

to heaven

we need to

strive against

sin

and this is

what the

holy spirit

works in

our hearts

we're talking

about that

inordinate

longing for

pleasure or

power or

possessions

you know what I'm

talking about

first john

2 16

when the

apostle says

the lust of

the flesh

lust of

the eye

the pride

of life

these are

the things

that grace

trains us

to say

no to

but notice

the second

part of

verse 12

there

you see

the positive

where we

should live

in this evil

world with

wisdom

righteousness

and devotion

to god

so it's

not just

to renounce

these vices

but it's

to replace

them with

virtues

to the glory

of god

that we

would be

trained

to live

right

in the

here and

now

as it

says

and in

this

present

age

lives

that display

a changed

demeanor

with respect

to ourselves

self-control

with respect

to our

neighbor

the second

tablet

of the

ten

commandments

right

with respect

to god

of course

the first

tablet

devotion

godliness

piety

reverence

these are

the things

that grace

trains us

in

and you

realize

that the

word of

god

makes

ethical

demands

of us

and grace

trains us

to obey

outwardly

to say no

to these

ungodly

activities

and inwardly

to say no

to those

ungodly

desires

that we

would

rejoice

with a

heart

of devotion

and love

toward our

savior

to just say

no

to those

things

just say

no

as god

enables

please

understand

my message

to you

tonight

is not

try harder

to be

good

if that

were my

message

you would

most likely

fail

matter of fact

I can guarantee

you will fail

but it's to

say no

to these

things

as god

enables

as grace

trains you

rely on grace

to enable you

to do these

things

because if

you're born

again

you are

changed

on the

inside

believe that

believe that

the holy

spirit is

there to

empower you

to overcome

sin

are you

failing

in the

christian

life

well

perhaps

you're

trying

in your

own

strength

remember

it's the

grace of

god

that trains

you

and empowers

you

for

christian

living

you know

in a

seminary

missions

class

dr.

herbert

jackson

he told

how as

a new

missionary

he was

assigned

a car

that would

not start

without a

push

and after

giving some

thought to

his problem

he devised

a plan

he went

to a

school

nearby

his house

and he got

permission

to take

a few

of the

teenage

boys

out of

class

and he

had

them

push

his

car

off

and as

he made

his rounds

he would

either park

on a

hill

or he would

leave

running

and he

used

this

ingenious

technique

for over

two

years

until

finally

after a

few

years

ill

health

forced

the

jackson

family

to leave

the

mission

field

and a

new

missionary

was

being

sent

to

come

to

that

station

and as

jackson

proudly

began

to

explain

the

arrangement

for

getting

the

car

started

the

new

man

began

looking

under

the

hood

and

before

he

was

done

explaining

the

situation

the

new

missionary

interrupted

dr.

Jackson

I believe

the only

trouble

here

is this

loose

cable

and he

gave

the

cable

a

twist

stepped

in

the

car

and pushed

the

switch

and the

engine

came

to

life

for two

years

needless

trouble

had become

routine

and my

goodness

the power

was there

all the

time

only a

loose

connection

kept

jackson

from putting

that

power

to work

you know

the famous

paraphrase

J.B.

Phillips

puts

Ephesians

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

in verse

19

this way

says how

tremendous

is the

power

available

to us

who

believe

in

God

I like

that

see when

we make

firm

our

connection

with

God

his

life

and

his

power

flow

through

us

you know

it makes

me wonder

are you

tapped

into

the power

of God

perhaps

you've

struggled

to renounce

sin

and to

affirm

virtue

it's

not easy

right

sometimes

it's

difficult

again

is our

message

to try

harder

to be

good

no

that's

not the

message

perhaps

I can

give you

some ingenious

system

for walking

Christian

victory

I'll give

you five

steps

and here

are three

hacks

and here

are three

tips

and that's

not the

message

you see

you need to be

tapped into the

right power

supply

God's grace

that enables

us

God will

enable you

to renounce

sin

and to live

righteously

left to

yourself

you will

fail

you need

to come

to that

realization

that you're

a sinner

and that

you need

God's

help

and when

you do

that

he will

enable

you

he will

be there

for you

his grace

will

train

you

as Paul

says

I can

do all

things

through

Christ

who

strengthens

me

right

we should

have that

kind of

attitude

when it

comes to

our

fight

with

sin

1st

Corinthians

chapter 15

and verse

!

even the

apostle

realized

that it

wasn't

him

it wasn't

his

running

and

willing

and

striving

and

trying

harder

to be

good

but

it

was

the

grace

of

God

at

work

in

his

heart

truly

God

will

empower

you

as

you

rely

upon

his

strength

but

what

about

when

you

fail

if

you

fail

what

about

when

you

sin

well

remember

your

acceptance

by

God

is

on

the

basis

of

Christ's

!

righteousness

not

your

own

confess

your

sins

he's

faithful

and

just

to

forgive

and

in

gratitude

strive

all

the

more

against

vice

and

to

affirm

virtue

as

his

grace

enables

you

point

number

two

Christmas

grace

is

the

grace

for

Christian

living

we'll

be

gone

our

missionary

message

Christmas

grace

is

the

grace

to

wait

on

God

look

at

verse

13

the

apostle

says

while we

look

forward

with

hope

to

that

wonderful

day

when the

glory

of our

great

God

and

Savior

Jesus

Christ

will

be

revealed

so

note

how

this

grace

trains

us

while we

are

waiting

for

this

blessed

hope

that

blessed

hope

refers

to

the

second

coming

of

our

Lord

and

Savior

Jesus

Christ

note

the

two

appearings

in

our

text

right

in

verse

11

you

have

this

grace

that

has

appeared

and

then

here

in

verse

13

you

are

waiting

for

the

appearing

so

which

is

it

has

this

grace

appeared

or

are

we

still

waiting

for

the

appearance

of

course

the

answer

is

both

Christ

has

come

Christ

is

coming

again

throughout

the

New

Testament

scripture

speaks

in terms

of

this

already

not

yet

parallel

right

Christ

has

already

come

that's

the

Christmas

message

right

that's

the

first

advent

Christ

is

coming

again

that's

the

second

advent

our

blessed

hope

you

see

grace

trains

us

to

patiently

wait

in

confident

expectation

for

his

return

and

this

hope

is

called

blessed

this

is

where

we

find

our

happiness

and

our

delight

and

our

glory

because

we

know

that

we

have

been

bought

with

a

price

and

Christ

is

coming

back

for

us

indeed

our

hope

is

blessed

because

it

is

the

rock

solid

foundation

of

our

Christian

walk

our

hope

our

faith

!

in

God

trustworthy

faithful

life

before

God

the

writer

of

Hebrews

puts it

this

way

in

Hebrews

Hebrews 6:19

chapter

6

verse

19

this

hope

is

the

anchor

of

our

soul

sure

and

steadfast

Paul

puts it

this

way

in

Romans

Romans 15:13

15

verse

13

the

God

of

hope

that

fills

us

with

all

joy

and

peace

talking

about

the

object

of

our

hope

salvation

and

eternal

life

presence

of

Christ

himself

victory

!

over

evil

!

surely

the

fulfillment

will be

blessed

indeed

and

this

fulfillment

comes

at the

second

advent

when

Christ

returns

and

our

salvation

finds

its

consummation

at the

great

appearing

of

our

God

and

Savior

as it

says

here

in

verse

13

our

God

and

Savior

what is

that

referring

to?

one

person

or

two?

our

God

and

our

Savior

two

persons

or

God

and

Savior

one

person

if we

have

anyone

studying

here

ETS

tonight

you can

get into

your

Greek

you see

that

it's

not

ambiguous

in the

original

language

it's

referring

to

one

person

our

God

and

Savior

Jesus

Christ

this

text

here

verse

13

is yet

another

proof

of the

divinity

of our

Savior

he is

truly

Emmanuel

God

with

us

and

this

hope

this

confident

expectation

this

eager

anticipation

that we

have

prepares

us

for

eternity

with

him

and

it's

a

strong

hope

it's

an

immense

blessing

my

goodness

you

don't

want

to

miss

it

and

this

is

our

motivation

that we

would

be

called

to

wait

with

patience

and

perseverance

on

God's

promise

that we

would be

manifested

with him

in glory

Colossians

3

4

see

that's

our

blessed

hope

that we

would

be

like

him

for

we

will

see

him

as

he

is

you

know

speaking

of

hope

a

number

of

years

ago

some

researchers

performed

an

experiment

to see

the

effect

that

hope

has

on

those

that

are

undergoing

hardship

and

the

first

time

I

read

of

this

experiment

I

kind

of

cringed

a

little

bit

but

you

see

what

I

mean

there

were

two

sets

of

laboratory

rats

that

were

placed

in

separate

tubs

of

water

and

the

researchers

left

one

set

in

the

water

and

found

that

within

an

hour

they

had