Conduct Befitting The Gospel (Part3)

Well, then we get to this third section as we've broken it up into three different stages, really.

We get to this third section in verses 7 through 10, and Paul is shifting away from age groups or life stages that he's covered earlier in the chapter.

And he deals with two unique categories of people in the church.

The first category of people in the church is the church leaders.

They are represented by Titus, but of course, by extension, this would be the elders that Titus is to be appointing in these churches as well.

We find them addressed in verses 7 and 8.

And then the second category of people we find are Christian slaves in the church.

We see this in verses 9 and 10.

Through the years, our English translations have tried to soften this word.

It says bond servants probably in the translation that you're reading, or maybe it says servants.

It's really, it's the word doulos.

It's a slave.

And it's speaking directly to people who are enslaved in Crete.

And Paul's saying that the gospel has something to say to them.

That it not only has something to say to them in regards to their salvation,

it actually has something to say to them in regards to their godliness as well.

So it's unique that Paul addresses these two different groups.

And why is it that that should be important to us today?

Most of us are not church leaders.

None of us are enslaved people either.

So how are we actually supposed to understand this?

Why does it matter?

Well, the instruction for church leaders teach us that

every Christian is responsible for following a pattern of godliness.

That's the purpose of the leaders.

They set a pattern that Christians must follow.

As they follow Christ, others will follow their example and follow Christ as well.

So does the things that Paul is saying to Titus matter to each and every one of us?

Of course they do.

Because it's not instruction that's specifically for Titus.

It's to be in Titus, but it's also supposed to be true of everyone else as well.

The instructions for the slaves teach us that gospel conduct transcends even the most devastating

circumstances of our lives.

And we're going to dig into that a little bit more in a few moments.

Now we need to see the form of structure that Paul gives to both categories.

He really structures his teaching the same way between the two groups.

He commands specific actions.

Those are indicated by imperative verbs.

You can see it in verse 7.

Show yourself, he says.

And then you see it again in verse 9.

Be submissive.

Those are imperative commands.

But then those actions, those imperatives are further explained by the intended result that

they have.

Here is the thing that you should do, and here is why you should do it.

And that is indicated, of course, by the so that clauses.

So that an opponent may be put to shame.

So that we may adorn in everything the gospel and the doctrine of God our Savior.

And so that's the form.

And I think it would be helpful for us to acknowledge and recognize that form as we work through this

text together this morning, okay?

First, let's look at church leaders.

Church leaders.

Look with me again at verse 7.

Paul says, show yourself.

He's speaking directly to Titus again now.

Show yourself, Titus, in all respects to be a model of good works.

Well, there's two specific commands given to Titus here.

He is to display good works.

Titus, and he is to teach the gospel in a manner that cannot be condemned.

Those are the actions.

But before we get into that, I want to take just a few moments to focus in on this one

word that Paul uses, that Titus is to be a model.

A model.

That's not complicated, and I don't mean to treat you as if you can't understand basic

things.

But I do think this is helpful, at least for me, and maybe it will be helpful for you.

The Greek that's underlying this particular word for model, this noun, is a term that refers

to the impression of a die, like a stamping die.

We could go to most of our kitchens today, and probably your wife has somewhere in the

kitchen a baking mold.

Maybe it's a mold for a bundt cake.

Maybe it's a mold for muffins or something like that.

Julie and the girls have some of these in our kitchen at home.

And what is the purpose of it?

You make your batter, whatever it is that you're going to mix, and you pour it into the

mold so that after it's finished baking, the finished product, the muffin or the cupcake

or whatever it is, the cookie, it looks exactly like the mold in which it's been poured into.

We would think the same thing when we take our kids to the beach, and our kids like sand

toys, and they'll want to build a sand castle at some point.

So they have toys that are molded.

They set a pattern, and they can take that wet sand, and they can push it down into those

toys so that when they dump the sand out, it takes the form and the pattern of the bucket

or the other tools that they're using.

That's the idea that Paul is getting across here to Titus.

Titus, and by extension, the elders that he was to appoint, was to be a mold into which

others could be poured and therefore bear a likeness to him.

Like the apostle himself, Titus was to so follow the pattern set by Jesus Christ that the people

following him would also bear the image of Christ in the way that they lived and ministered.

Now that's important for us to understand here, because if we don't acknowledge that this

instruction is meant to be followed by everyone, then we're going to ignore it.

We're going to completely miss the point.

Titus, be a model, be a pattern for good works that the people in Crete will follow.

Titus, be a model for teaching the gospel in a way that cannot be condemned so that the

people in the churches will also teach the gospel in a manner that cannot be condemned.

In other words, the things Paul wrote must be true of Titus because they should be true

of every Christian.

Do you see that?

They must be true of Titus.

They must be true of the elders.

They must be true of the leaders at Lakeside Bible Church because they should be true of

every other believer.

And whatever pattern the leadership is going to set in the church, whatever pattern the

leadership was going to set in the church here or then is what the church is ultimately

going to become.

And so Paul says, model good works and faithful teaching.

Now let's consider those actions themselves.

First, he says, show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works.

We talk about good works a lot in Christianity, but it's generally used as a general term that

doesn't often get helpfully defined.

So I want to define it.

What do we actually mean by good works?

What does Paul mean by good works?

At the very least, it refers to righteousness.

Righteousness in particular set in contrast to the sinful behaviors and ideas of the non-believing

culture.

And we see this happening a lot in the book of Titus.

In chapter one, Paul deals with the false teachers.

He deals with the cultural ideas and the cultural sins of the people in Crete.

And he says that the Christians here need to be standing in contrast to that.

At the very least, good works refers to that.

It is fundamentally holiness that by God's grace sets a believer apart from the world in

which they live.

Allah was teaching the kids about this on Thursday night in the adventure club class about they

were defining holiness and they were talking about sanctification.

And there's this dynamic of holiness that I think is so important for us to understand.

Yes, it means set apart, but think in the Old Testament for just a moment.

As God commanded Moses in all the things related to the tabernacle and eventually the temple,

but the tabernacle and all the instruments.

Remember he said they were to be made holy to the Lord.

What does that actually mean?

That the instruments in there, the altar, all the things that were being used,

they were devoted specifically for the glory and the purposes that God had given them.

So it wouldn't be right for Ashlyn if she lived amongst the children of Israel in those days.

It wouldn't have been right for her to decide she wanted to make a cake.

And so she just kind of runs into the tabernacle there and grabs one of the basins that they have

to mix or batter together because all of hers were dirty.

That would be unholy.

Because those things have been devoted to God.

Now that's the idea of holiness when it comes to God setting apart his people in holiness.

He has set them apart, St. Clair Ferguson says, to be devoted to God.

That everything about our lives is set apart by God to be devoted to his purposes and to his glory.

And when we talk about good works in the Bible, fundamentally it is referring to holiness,

this devotion to God whereby God sets his people apart from the world in which they live.

But it's not just that.

There's something more to it.

The biblical idea of good works is more than just resisting temptation and being orthodox in faith.

It also includes positive cultural engagement that is clearly evident to the watching world.

Consider Jesus' words on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Jesus says,

He says,

It's being set apart.

It's devoted to God.

It's resisting sin.

And it's devoting ourselves to orthodoxy in belief.

But it's more than that.

It's living in such a way that other people can actually witness the good works.

They can witness the positive outcomes of the life as we are transformed by the power of Christ.

Think about this in terms of first and second century Christians that we're reading about here in Titus.

The fruit of Christian works was abundantly evident in the centuries following this.

Colin Hansen wrote that early Christianity was not only offensive to Jews and to Romans, but it was also attractive.

And here's what he meant.

He wrote,

Christians opposed abortion and infanticide by adopting children.

They didn't retaliate, but instead forgave.

They cared for the poor and marginalized.

Their strict sexual ethic protected and empowered women and children.

Christian churches brought together hostile nations and ethnic groups.

Jesus broke apart the connection between religion and ethnicity when he revealed a God for every tribe and tongue and language.

Allegiance to Jesus trumped geography, nationality, and ethnicity in the church.

And it wasn't that all of these things were producing salvation in these Christians.

No, this was the overflow of the gospel at work in their life.

In the second and third centuries in the city of Rome, Rome was devastated by two different plagues.

The second plague in the third century or second century, excuse me.

No, this was the third century.

It had a mortality rate of 5,000 people a day at one point.

That's 35,000 people a week in a city that did not exceed in population, one million.

They didn't know how to cure the plagues that were coming upon them, whatever they might have been at that particular moment.

But the people eventually discovered that it was spread by contact.

So what inevitably happened is people began to flee the city of Rome.

Family members were leaving their family and their children to die in the city.

Doctors, the people who had whatever knowledge was possible to try to help overcome this, also left the city.

But not the Christians, says Tim Keller.

The Christians stayed in the cities.

Not only did they care for their own sick, but they had dynamic nursing services to others.

They went out and brought in.

They cared for all sorts of the pagan sick.

And as a result, many of them died.

You say, well, wasn't that such a waste?

These Christians could have gone out and they could have gone around to other places around the world, perhaps sharing the gospel with others.

But because they decided to stay, they lost their lives.

And what good was that?

It was actually tremendous good.

Because the people that they were helping were also hearing this gospel of Jesus.

People were being converted to Christ.

And as a result of their commitment to good works in that time, we see the progression of the gospel flourishing and beginning to flourish in the city of Rome in the time thereafter.

And here's what I mean by all of that.

We must preach the gospel.

But a gospel that doesn't affect the way that we live in regards to the way we view humanity and the way that we help others is not a true gospel.

Christians sacrifice their wealth to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.

Using a parable, Jesus said that in the final judgment, Christians will be commended because he says,

For I was hungry and you gave me food.

I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

I was naked and you clothed me.

I was sick and you visited me.

I was in prison and you came to me.

Christians sacrifice their time to care for the widow and orphan.

James chapter 1 says,

James 1 · chapter mention

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this,

to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Christians give their voice to defend the oppressed and afflicted.

Isaiah chapter 1.

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Correct oppression.

Bring justice to the fatherless.

Plead the widow's cause.

Of course, these works do not earn salvation,

but they reveal the radical transformation that's brought about as a result of salvation.

They declare the gospel of Jesus in a way that can be seen rather than only heard.

Martin Luther said,

Because the heathen cannot see our faith,

they ought to see our works,

then hear our doctrine,

and then be converted.

And we have this tendency sometimes,

there's ditches on both sides of the road here.

We have this tendency on one end of cultural accommodation,

where we come into the world and we end up losing the gospel

because all we care about is positive cultural engagement,

but we never actually bring the name of Christ.

We never actually bring the gospel of Christ.

What we ultimately end up doing in that situation

is we accommodate ourselves to the culture.

Intending to help them,

we become like them.

On the other side of this is cultural isolation,

where we determine that the world is too sinful for us

and it is too far gone for us,

so I'm just going to isolate myself from it.

And I'm not going to be involved in any way with the culture that's around me.

I'm going to keep my faith to myself and to my Christian community.

And then the world never actually sees our good works.

And they never hear our gospel message.

And somewhere in the mix of that is the impossible.

And it's the impossible that Jesus calls us to

when he tells his disciples,

I am sending you into the world,

but I don't want you to be of the world.

So Jesus takes away the option of cultural isolation.

He says, you must be in the world.

And then he removes the option of cultural accommodation.

And he says, while you're in the world,

you need to look very different from that world around you.

And it's a battle for us.

It's a constant tug of war.

What do we do?

Who are we supposed to see?

How are we to be involved?

And at the end of it is good works.

Informed by the gospel.

Founded on the gospel.

But has compassion and mercy for others.

So that the faithful Christian life is marked by works of mercy

and compassion and unity.

Because Jesus' life was marked by such radical love.

Mark chapter 10.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

For even the Son of Man came not to be served,

but to serve.

And how did he do that?

By giving his life a ransom for many.

Well, how do we follow that pattern?

You can't give your life a ransom for anyone.

You can give your wealth to feed the hungry

and to clothe the naked.

You can give your time to care for the orphan and the widow.

You can give your voice and your vote

to help the afflicted and the oppressed.

Well, he's not only to be a model of good works,

he's to be a model of gospel teaching.

Look again at verse 7.

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works.

And in your teaching,

show integrity, dignity, and sound speech

that cannot be condemned.

So in the case of these verses,

Paul is primarily concerned with Titus' manner of teaching,

more so than he is the content of his teaching.

Now, that's not to say that the content doesn't matter.

Of course, it does.

We've covered that extensively already in this book.

But in this verse,

he's concerned with the way that Titus teaches.

He was to put the gospel on display in his teaching

through teaching it with integrity and dignity and sound speech.

Integrity speaks to motives.

The false teachers in Crete wanted to be the social influencers of the first century.

They wanted to build their own brands,

and they wanted to build their own wealth.

We saw that in chapter 1.

Titus wasn't to do that.

Titus and the elders in the churches, on the other hand,

were to preach the gospel with pure motives

for the glory of God and for the good of his people.

Dignity refers to Titus' manner,

his persona.

He was to present the gospel in a way that was worthy of respect,

is what dignity means.

Sound speech certainly includes the right message,

but it also involves the gracious and winsome words

of speaking grace and persuading others

to believe the truth of the gospel.

He was to boldly declare the gospel with a spirit

that could not be condemned.

Of course, Colossians 4 helps us with this.

Walk in wisdom toward others, Paul writes,

making the best use of the time.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, that is, toward unbelievers.

Let your speech be always gracious,

seasoned with salt.

That means useful,

so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

He tells Titus here,

as you preach the gospel,

do it with integrity and dignity and sound speech.

Be gracious in the way you preach the gospel.

Be salty in the way you preach the gospel.

Not as a curmudgeon,

not as we mean salty in that sense,

but salty in the fact that you're actually useful.

That people can get beyond the way of your teaching

to actually hear the message that you're proclaiming to them.

And what's the intended result of all this?

There's the model of good works,

there's the model of gospel teaching,

and then in verse 8 we see the intended result.

So that an opponent may be put to shame,

having nothing evil to say about us.

What's the result here?

Silencing gospel opponents.

Put to shame here as passive.

Meaning our works and our words should shame our enemies

rather than fuel the fires of their indignation towards us.

Do you see the difference in that?

That the way that we live,

even if they hate our message,

and they hate our purpose,

and they hate everything that we're doing,

that the way that we live,

and the way that we speak,

and the way that we preach,

does not fuel the fire of their condemnation,

but it actually puts them to shame

because they cannot justifiably condemn us.

That their condemnation clearly comes

as a result of their hatred for Christ and his gospel,

not a hatred for the sins of our own lives

in the way that we treat everyone else.

It's an important dynamic here.

Notice that this doesn't guarantee their conversion.

That's not the object here.

Not at least in this verse.

It doesn't guarantee their conversion.

It prevents them from having a justifiable reason

to speak evil of Christians

and therefore speak evil of the gospel

because that's exactly what happens.

You read news articles

or maybe you listen to podcasts or whatever it is.

If you're immersed in any kind of Christian cultural information,

then you're going to find every time,

every time someone is going through these deconstruction phases

in their faith as it's come to be called,

it almost inevitably starts with the sin of another Christian.

And rather than looking to the person of Christ

and the truth of what Christians should be in Christ,

they take their eyes off of Christ

and they look at all of these sinful men

and they see the pattern of these sinful men

and what they ultimately do is renounce the gospel

instead of just renouncing the men.

And Paul's telling Titus here,

live in such a way that that cannot be said of you.

That anyone who's rejecting the gospel

must reject it on the sole basis of their hatred for the gospel,

not because you've communicated it

in such an unpalatable way that they hate you.

The Bible guarantees that the world will hate us,

but you don't have to invite that hate.

It guarantees that they'll persecute us.

That doesn't mean that your persona on social media

needs to agitate them so that they will persecute you.

That's foolish.

It doesn't glorify God.

It actually condemns the gospel.

If the world must hate us,

let it be for the truth that we proclaim,

not for the way that we communicate that truth.

If they must despise us,

let it be for the gospel consistency of our lives

that brings conviction to their own

rather than the religious hypocrisy

that has become part and parcel

of those who name the name of Christ.

Well, that's for church leaders.

Secondly, he deals with Christian slaves.

Christian slaves.

Verse nine,

bond servants or slaves are to be submissive

to their own masters in everything.

They are to be well-pleasing,

not argumentative,

not pilfering,

but showing all good faith

so that in everything they may adorn

the doctrine of God,

our Savior.

Now, before we jump into Paul's instructions here

for enslaved people,

let's bring some clarifying understanding,

perhaps,

of the New Testament's view

and understanding of slavery.

Because we can't get beyond the fact

that the New Testament addresses slaves

in their enslaved condition

many, many times in the New Testament.

The apostles do this.

But it doesn't always have in view

the kind of chattel slavery

that we think of in terms of American history

and American slavery.

The Christian ethic

represented in the New Testament

always rejects kidnapping.

It rejects enslaving.

It rejects dehumanizing people

so much so

that in American history,

the enslavers,

when they would give these slaves,

American slaves,

a Bible,

there's portions of the Bible

they would actually remove

because they were afraid

that the slaves

are going to read the Bible

and think that God

was against slavery

in the way that they were dealing with it.

That's how plain the Bible

is actually about this.

We need to understand that.

Slavery and the ongoing remnants

of social prejudice

and racial prejudice

that it has produced in our nation

are egregious sins.

They need to be lamented

and repented of,

not defended in any way.

And the Bible doesn't do that.

The Bible doesn't give us grounds

for defending it.

But it is true

that the culture of the New Testament,

while including this kind of

egregious slavery,

was actually much broader than that.

It was a culture of slavery

that involved apprenticeship.

It involved indentured relationships,

domestic workers,

government officials.

If you wanted to become

a Roman citizen as an adult,

you could be adopted

by a Roman family

and that would be your pathway

to citizenship.

There were economical arrangements

where slaves would

volitionally choose slavery

in order to get ahead

in some kind of way in their life,

whether it was economically

or whether it was through

social status.

And there were term limits

set on that

and there were things

that they went through

that they thought,

the slave themselves thought,

was actually putting them forward

in society.

And I don't mean to paint

a rosy picture of slavery here

because that's not at all

what it was.

Even those who entered slavery

volitionally

were subjected to harsh practices.

They were dehumanized

by their masters.

They were often mistreated

by their masters.

But it wasn't always

the dynamic that we think of

or at least the culture of it

wasn't always the dynamic

that we think of today.

Which is why the New Testament,

while condemning the things

related to slavery,

did not often hit head on

the issue of slavery.

Rather, the New Testament

speaks directly to enslavers

and to the slaves.

Why?

Because the gospel is for them

and the gospel has something

to say to them

in their current condition.

And when we think about that

in the terms of the New Testament,

that's what's happening

and that's what we need

to understand.

So what is it that Paul's saying here?

He's not condoning slavery.

Neither is he promoting it.

He's just acknowledging

that it's a reality in Crete

and he wants to say something

to the Christians

who are caught up

in that particular structure

of their culture.

And he says

that they need to be submissive

in everything.

That's verse 9.

Slaves are to be submissive

to their own masters

in everything.

And of course,

that submission

has clear limitations.

The Bible

never commands someone

to obey man

in a way that would

sin against God.

And of course,

that is not Paul's intention

here either.

The sense here

is that they are to

willingly submit themselves

to their masters,

Christian or not,

insofar as their duties

do not violate

the Word of God.

Which is further revealed

when Paul says

how he intends

for them to obey,

which is listed for us here.

He gives two positives

and then two negatives.

The first thing he says

is they are to be

well-pleasing.

This is how they're

going to submit.

This is how they're

going to display

this submission.

They're going to be

well-pleasing,

which simply means

that they are to serve

and behave in a way

that is pleasing

to their authorities.

That it is to be done

genuinely

with the aim

of glorifying God

with their behavior.

Let me just read

Colossians chapter 3

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

so it gives

some more clarity

to this.

Slaves obey in everything

those who are

your earthly masters,

not by way of eye service.

In other words,

not just when they're looking,

not as people-pleasers,

just putting on a front,

but he says,

with sincerity of heart,

fearing the Lord.

Whatever you do,

work heartily

as for the Lord

and not for men,

knowing that from the Lord

you will receive

the inheritance

of your reward.

You are serving

the Lord Christ.

That's what he means

by well-pleasing,

that they're not

to put on a show,

that they're not

to only do

what they're supposed

to do when their

authorities are looking on,

but they're to look

at their condition

as a way to glorify

the Lord even in their work.

He says,

they're not to be argumentative.

This refers to that

kind of contrarian attitude

that pushes against authority

no matter what.

This is what we do

when we're teenagers.

We so hate authority

that it doesn't matter

if the instruction is good

and even helpful,

we're going to push against it

just because we hate

the authority

that's put in our lives.

Of course,

that's not limited

to teenagers.

I'm 36 years old almost

and I still do that often.

That's what he's saying.

He said,

don't have a contrarian attitude

where you just constantly

push against

no matter what.

He says,

not pilfering,

that's just thievery.

Don't steal from them.

Don't misuse the privileges

that may be gained

from your work.

He says,

showing all good faith,

faithful to the Lord,

faithful to their work

and the things that they do.

That's the action.

What's the intended result?

Verse 10.

So that in everything

they may adorn the doctrine

of God our Savior.

So what's the point

of all of that?

Christian slaves

were to submit

in everything

so that they might glorify God

in everything.

And he uses this word adorn.

And I love this word.

There was a culture

of adornment.

You can actually look this up.

That's what it was called,

a culture of adornment

in ancient Greek

and Roman societies

where it's very similar

to our own,

where statements were made

by the way that people dressed

or the way that they

accessorized their bodies.

We do the same thing.

They did it really

to an extreme.

1 Timothy and 1 Peter

both deal with this

in terms of living

in such a way

that our adornment

is modest,

pleasing to the Lord,

looking to show our faith

rather than to show

our social status

or our wealth

or whatever it is

that we may be trying

to prove in the way

that we carry ourselves.

Here, Paul says

that when slaves

behave in this way,

these four categories,

that they wear

the gospel of Jesus.

It's like putting on a coat.

They put on the gospel

of Jesus,

putting it on display

for everyone to see.

It's a transcendent gospel

that we have.

It transcends

every circumstance

that you may find yourself.

And that's proven further

in the very next verse.

We'll get there next,

or two weeks from now,

but look at verse number 11.

Look what the very next sentence

is that Paul writes

in this letter.

He says,

do this so that you can

in everything

adorn the doctrine

of God our Savior

for the grace of God

has appeared,

bringing salvation

for what people?

all people.

It's a transcendent gospel.

What did this mean

for these people?

This meant that

the gospel of Jesus

extended to those

in society

whom their culture

considered worthless

and servile.

When the world

had looked at these slaves

and said,

you're not even worth

being counted

as a human being,

the gospel says,

no,

you're valuable.

You have worth

if not to the people

in your life,

to the God

who has created you.

It also meant

that a believing slave

could understand

that the gospel of Jesus

extended to the very people

who were abusing them,

to the very people

who were ruling over them,

sometimes ruthlessly.

And here's the point.

You may not look like much

to the world,

but to Jesus,

you're wanted

as much as anyone else.

Your sin may be so egregious

that you would be

utterly embarrassed

if the people in this room

knew what you had done

and knew what you maybe

are doing

and knew what the condition

of your heart

and the condition

of your mind is.

But to Jesus,

you're never beyond mercy

and forgiveness

and eternal life.

Jesus loves you.

It is never wrong

when we say

Jesus loves you.

The very fact

that you have life

proves it.

Because the holiness

of God dictates

that at the moment

that we fall short

of his glory,

he is worthy

and he is justified

to take our lives immediately,

but that's not what he does.

He gives us life

and he gives us pleasures

and he gives us provisions

and he loves us to the end,

but here's the best part.

It's not seen anywhere greater

than on the cross.

And we know the verse well.

For God so loved the world

that he gave his only son

that whoever will believe,

whoever will believe,

will have eternal life

and find forgiveness.

That's not because God hates you.

That's because God loves you

and Jesus calls you

into this love

when he says,

come to me,

all who are weak

and heavy laden

and I will give you rest.

When he says,

come to me

and I will never cast you out.

This transcendent gospel

for these slaves meant

that they weren't so low

despite what everybody else says

that Jesus couldn't send his love,

that Jesus didn't extend his love

and that Jesus didn't care either.

It's a gospel

they could relish in,

a true gospel,

but it's a gospel

that they could turn around

and display

to their unbelieving masters

because that gospel extends

to the egregious sinners

that was true

of their earthly masters.

And they could say,

Jesus loves you

as much as he loves me.

And if you believe him,

he'll save you

like he saved me.

And the result of that

will be transforming your life

and transforming your thoughts.

You'll receive forgiveness

and eternal life.

This is a wonderful gospel.

It's a wonderful gospel.

And it speaks to everyone

no matter what their circumstance is,

no matter what the extent

of their sin is.

It speaks to you.

It is for you.

And Christ invites you

into this love.

He invites you to receive it

by faith

in what he has done for you

on the cross

and what he has provided

for you

in his resurrection.

There might be some room

for us to apply these verses.

In fact,

I've been tempted all week

in regards to these last two verses

to apply this to our work

and our jobs.

But that's not the point.

That's not the point

of what Paul's doing here.

The point is that

gospel transformation

and conduct

transcends every circumstance

of life.

No amount of hardship

or hurt

or failure

is an excuse

for not living

a godly life

if you're a believer.

No circumstance.

We look at some people

and we say,

you know what?

They've been through so much.

They have every right

to be mad at God

or to doubt him.

That's not true.

We never have a right

for that.

We look at people

and the circumstances

of some of these

Christians in creed

and their slavery,

whatever their situation

may have been

in regards to that

and we would say,

you know what?

Who cares?

Let them rebel.

Look at the condition

of their life.

Paul says,

no, the gospel

says different than that.

There's never an excuse

for us

to abandon

in godly behavior.

Our hardships

actually do the opposite.

Our hardships

provide a backdrop

against which

the gospel

shines the brightest.

That's the point here.

Like a jeweler,

I remember in the days,

it's probably been

about 15 years now

since I've looked

for jewelry for Julie

and I remember

looking for engagement rings

and she told me

what she liked

and I went to Jared's

and they pulled out

because I have to get it

from there

and they pull out

the thing.

You know, guys,

you know how they do it.

They pull out the thing

and they put all

of the really expensive

rocks on the black felt.

You know what I'm talking about?

They don't set it

on the glass

because you won't

see it well

on the glass.

They won't put it

on a white backdrop

or a gray backdrop.

No, they got these black ones

that's just as black

as can be

and they stick them in there

and then they take

these lights.

They're not fluorescent lights.

They're these spotlights

and they shine them

directly on this rock

so that when your girlfriend

sees these rocks,

Brian,

when your girlfriend

sees these rocks

and she's like,

sorry, Brian,

she sees these rocks

and she's like,

wow,

wow,

it's so beautiful.

Look how glorious it is.

That's what Paul's saying here.

The hardships of our lives

are like that black felt.

Sometimes the circumstances

of our life we feel

are unfair

and from a human perspective

they very much are.

Maybe it's struggles

with your work

or maybe with your family

or maybe it's a financial issue

you're facing.

There's some kind of suffering,

some kind of trial,

some kind of hardship

and it doesn't look like

you're going to get out of it

anytime soon.

And the gospel says,

no,

it's okay

because the lights

are shining

on the gospel

in your life right now

and if you will live

according to the gospel

and you will live

this gospel life,

it will shine so brilliantly

that God will use it

so that when the world

looks on at your works

and at your teaching

and at your faithfulness,

they'll say,

wow,

it's beautiful.

That's beautiful.

Not the person,

but whatever it is

that has done this

in their life,

I want to know more

about that thing.

That's a beautiful thing.

And what is that thing?

It's the gospel of Jesus.

It's no other thing.

It's the gospel.

And we spent a lot of time

these last three weeks

thinking about

what it means

to live out

this gospel life,

gospel behavior.

And conduct befitting

the gospel applies

to every age

and circumstance.

We've discovered that.

And it's always

for the glory of God

and His word.

But I must say it again,

we have to recognize

that our efforts

in this godliness

are not a means

of earning God's favor.

You can never

earn God's favor

because your righteousness

will never be

righteous enough.

Instead,

this behavior

is the overflow

of a heart

that by faith

has come to realize

that through Christ,

we already have

God's favor.

And when a person

trusts Jesus alone

as Lord and Savior,

the Holy Spirit comes

and He changes

their affections

so that they obey

in response

to God's salvation

rather than

at a means

of gaining

salvation.

And now their desire

to obey

boils down to

three statements

in this text.

Verse 5,

Do these things

so that you will avoid

reviling the word of God,

rejecting the word of God,

condemning the word of God.

Verse 8,

so that you would put

opponents to shame,

not to gain some type

of social high ground,

but to not give a reason

for the gospel

to be condemned.

That the opponents

of the gospel

would be put to shame.

And then thirdly,

that you would adorn

the doctrine of God

our Savior

in every circumstance

of your life.

That's what

this godliness does.

That's what

the true Christian desires.

And the question is,

are you living your life

with those desires in mind?

When you wake up

in the morning,

in some way,

is your life patterned

in such a way

you're so in tune

with the truth of God

that you think,

I don't want to revile

God's word today.

I want to put

the opponents

of the gospel

to shame

in the way that I live.

And I want to adorn

the doctrine of God

no matter how terrible

my day is today.

I want to please the Lord.

not because I'm afraid

of Him,

but because I love Him.

Do you care

if your belief

and behavior

rejects the Bible?

We talked about earlier.

Are you more prone

to say,

I see what that says,

but I just feel like

that's reviling the word.

Are you eager

to live

so that the gospel message

is held

above reproach

before your enemies?

Is your life

adorned by the truth

of God

and for your love

for Him?

And if the answer

to any of those questions

is no,

then you have

some serious,

serious spiritual

deficiencies

that need to be addressed.

Because one of two things

is true.

Either you've never

had the new birth,

you've never been

born again,

so that the Holy Spirit

has actually changed

your affections

and your desire now

is to please the Lord

with your life.

Either that's the case

or you just don't

faithfully walk

with Christ

through prayer

and the word.

Listen,

even as a believer,

if you're not serious

about walking with God,

your life will never

reflect the gospel

the way that it should.

God begins

this work in us,

but we must pursue

that work as well.

That begins

with the word

and it begins

with prayer.