Has Anything Changed?

It's on page 1199 if you're using the red-covered Bible.

Let's hear God's Word.

Reminds the people to be subject to rulers and authorities,

to be obedient,

to be ready to do whatever is good,

to slander no one,

to be peaceable and considerate,

and to show true humility towards all people.

At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient,

deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.

We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared,

he saved us,

not because of righteous things we had done,

but because of his mercy.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth

and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

whom he poured out on us generously

through Jesus Christ our Saviour,

so that, having been justified by his grace,

we might become heirs,

having the hope of eternal life.

This is a trustworthy saying.

And I want to stress these things

so that those who have trusted in God

may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.

These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

Peter.

Before Peter opens up that to us,

we're going to pray,

and I'm going to pray for Peter as we do this.

So let's do that now.

Father, thank you for your word.

Thank you for the truth of this letter,

your word to us.

And we thank you for Peter,

for his gifts.

Thank you for this past year,

for his opportunity to be studying

theology there in the US.

We pray that you will continue to bless him

in the year ahead

to comprehend and understand your word better,

but that it would also change his heart

and change his life more and more.

And we pray that for ourselves right now,

that this would not just be a head exercise,

but a heart-changing exercise.

We pray for Peter,

that you would fill him with your spirit

to communicate clearly your truth,

that we may understand it and apply it

and be people who see the greatness

and the goodness of God all the more.

So we thank you for him

and we thank you for your word.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks, Johnny.

Well, it's a pleasure to be here.

We're delighted to be back in Ireland

and I think as we've been in the States,

we've experienced so much blessing over there,

but we felt a large part of that blessing

is from the church here.

So we've been thinking a lot about you all

and praying a lot about you all.

So we really appreciate your support

and your prayers.

Yeah, as we have read,

we're going to look at Titus chapter 3,

Titus 3 · chapter mention

just the first eight verses this week

and the remainder of the chapter next week.

So in the past few weeks,

we've been working through this short letter

that Paul writes to Titus.

So we're going to pick up

where we left off a couple of weeks ago

at the start of chapter 3.

I think one of the things we've experienced

a lot in the States

is a huge generosity from people.

So within the first week of us arriving,

some guy that we had just got to know

came over for tea

and he heard that I played the guitar

but didn't have a guitar

and he offered to loan me his guitar

for the whole year,

which was a great blessing

and it's really nice to be able to play and sing.

One of the songs I started singing

is by an Irish singer-songwriter

called James Vincent McMorrow,

which is a real Irish-y name.

And the song starts with the line,

If this is redemption,

if this is redemption,

why do I bother at all?

Nothing to mention and nothing has changed.

And as I learned the song,

I was thinking,

is this an appropriate song to be singing?

Because it sounds very pessimistic

and very sceptical.

But the more I sang it,

the more I've realised

that that's something

that we often feel as Christians.

So we know we have been redeemed,

we know the Gospel is true,

and yet we look at our lives

and we wonder,

has anything changed?

We wonder,

why is it that we still seem

to have such short tempers

with our children?

Or why is it that we seem

to be so reluctant

to obey those

who are in authority over us?

We perhaps see anxiousness

in our lives

or we see a lack of joy in Christ.

And it's interesting

because we're not the only ones

who ask this question of ourselves.

So you need not think for too long,

but when you realise the way

that people who aren't Christians

think about Christians,

they ask this question all the time.

So they look at us and they say,

well, these people claim to be redeemed,

they claim to be Christians,

and yet it seems that nothing

has changed in their lives.

In fact, it seems they're greater hypocrites

than the rest of us

because they're supposed to be

these transformed people,

and yet they live lives

that don't give that impression.

We've seen that especially

for those who are in roles of authority

or who are in public roles.

And sometimes the criticism is fair

because Christians often do things

that are not in keeping

with being Christians.

So it's a big question.

If we have been redeemed,

what change has that had in our lives

or what change should that have

in our lives?

And it's the question, I think,

that Paul is dealing with here

in the start of chapter 3.

He asks,

what effect does redemption

have in our lives?

And in particular,

in chapter 3,

what effect does redemption

have in our lives

as we live them in society

and as we live them

in relationship to

the rulers and authorities

around us?

And the way we're going to

open up these eight or so verses

is just to think about

three different things.

We're going to think about

what God has saved us from.

We're going to think about

what God has saved us to.

And we're going to think about

what way we should live

as a result of those two things.

So the first thing we want to see

is what God has saved us from.

And that's what Paul is dealing with

in verse 3 of this chapter.

So he says,

at one time we too were foolish,

disobedient, deceived,

and enslaved by all kinds of passions.

We lived in malice and envy,

being hated and hating one another.

Sometimes with Paul,

when he reels off these lists of things,

you sometimes wonder,

is he just filling space?

But as we break them down

into maybe into couples of words,

we see the different things

that Paul is getting at.

So he says, firstly,

the first couple of words

is that we were foolish

and disobedient.

So in other words,

we were foolish in our minds

and we were disobedient

in our morals.

So there was a corruption

in our minds

and a corruption in our morals,

the way we thought

and the way we acted.

He says,

he goes on to say,

we were deceived

and enslaved

by all kinds of passions

and pleasures.

So maybe you could say

the first couple of things

are internal,

they're to do with

who we are in ourselves.

But this second couple of things

are external,

that we were deceived

by something outside of ourselves,

or we were enslaved

by something outside of ourselves,

by passions and pleasures.

The third couple of terms,

that we lived in malice and envy.

In other words,

we not only hated people,

but we also envied them.

We wanted what they had.

We coveted what they had,

to use an older terminology.

And of course,

this hatred,

this coveting,

resulted in us

hating one another

and being hated.

And as we read these things,

it's a little bit unnerving

and it's a little bit unpleasant

to hear about what Paul says

we once were.

But I think he wants it to be that.

He wants us to feel

that there is no escape,

that this is a bleak and black picture

of who we are,

or who we were in fact.

And part of the reason he does that

is because at the start of verse 4,

he says,

but,

so he wants to draw a contrast

between what he has just said.

And we see that the contrast

is with this kindness

and love of God our Savior.

Instead of one who is foolish

or disobedient,

God is kind and loving.

And so as we turn

from the bleak picture

of who we were

to the picture of who God is

and the way in which God acted

in our lives,

there is a stark contrast.

And I think there is a contrast

not only in who God is

and who we were,

but there is also a contrast

between who God is

and who we often think he is.

Even as Christians,

who we often think he is.

Paul says God is loving

and God is kind.

And God is our Savior, he says.

And when we reflect on these words,

maybe we realize

that this is not precisely

how we thought about God this week.

when we woke up in the morning

and we considered

whether we should

commit ourselves to God

for the day,

did we do it willingly

or did we feel

that God was a God

who was out to get us there,

a God of anger,

a God who didn't care about us,

a God who was distant?

But no, Paul says

God is kind and loving

and that he is our Savior.

I think it's clear

that he is kind and loving

in the order

in which Paul writes these things.

So he says,

when the kindness and love of God,

our Savior,

appeared in verse 4,

he saved us.

The order is very important

because we're sometimes

deceived into thinking

or enslaved into thinking

that because Christ died for us,

therefore God loves us.

But what Paul is saying here

is that it is because God loves us

that Christ died for us.

So Paul gives us

the correct order of the gospel,

I guess,

the correct order

in which these things have happened.

And when we weigh that

against other verses

that we know,

other verses that we're familiar with,

we realize that's

the consistent message

of the gospel.

John 3.16, for example,

for God so loved the world,

that's the source,

that's the reason

that he sent his only son

to die for us.

So what Paul is saying

is that the kindness

and love of God

is the source of the gospel.

And I think it's interesting

that he says,

God our Savior,

so we're used to thinking

about Jesus as our Savior.

But conclusively,

Paul says,

God the Father

is our Savior as well.

That Father, Son, and Spirit

are all at work

in order to save us.

And Paul demonstrates this

if you look as he goes on

through verse 5,

it says that God saved us,

not because of righteous things

we had done,

but because of his mercy.

And so what Paul is emphasizing

is that this Christian gospel

that we believe in

is totally different

to all other religious beliefs.

It's totally different

to all other man-made ideas

of how we might save ourselves.

Paul says that God saved us.

God is the one

who took the initiative.

These three simple words

stand at the very heart

of our belief.

They stand utterly opposed

to any idea

of how we might save ourselves,

might be formulated.

That God saved us,

as it says twice in verse 5,

stand opposed to the idea

that we can save ourselves.

That God saved us

makes it clear

that we did not save ourselves.

That God saved us

highlights the personal,

the particular nature

of salvation.

God, our Savior,

had us in mind.

When Christ died on the cross,

he had us in mind,

particular people.

And at just the right time,

as Paul goes on,

this historic event,

this historic act of Christ,

God the Son,

was applied to us

by the rebirth,

the washing of rebirth,

it says in verse 5,

and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

So it's a comprehensive salvation.

It's a pure redemption

by God the Father,

God the Son,

and God the Spirit

in our lives.

He responds to our desperate need

in love and kindness.

He demonstrates his mercy

in the cross of Christ,

and he applies it

to each one of us

who have believed.

And so from start to finish,

there is nothing left to chance.

From start to finish,

this is pure redemption

by God.

He has saved us

from what we were.

And the question then for us

is how do we respond to this?

How do we respond to God's

saving work in our lives?

And I think Paul hints at it

at least in verse 7.

He says those who have,

sorry, in verse 8,

those who have trusted in God.

The only appropriate response,

the only ongoing response

to all that God has done

is to trust in him,

to believe him,

to have faith in him.

As it says in the Gospels

and in all of the New Testament

and all of the Old Testament,

that to turn to God

in faith and trust

and belief in what he has done

in history

is the only appropriate response.

Paul says,

uses this phrase,

this is a trustworthy saying

a couple of times

in his letters.

In other words,

he's saying what he's talking about

is worthy of our trust

because the one he is talking about

is worthy of our trust.

God has saved us

from what we were

is the first thing

that we want to see.

The second thing

is that God has saved us

to what we will be.

We're going to be a little bit brief

around these points,

but I think it's interesting

as we read through the Bible,

there's things that happen

in the Bible

that for those people

at that particular time,

they were still future events,

they were still waiting to happen.

Sorry.

Sorry.

One of the first things

that hit me

as I got off the plane

was a head cold.

God has saved us

to what we will be.

So,

as we read through the Bible,

we see that

God makes promises

to his people

throughout the Bible.

He made promises

to Israel

that they would be delivered

from Egypt.

And as this future promise

came into their present

and worked through

into their past,

they were able to reflect

on what God had done

and to say,

well,

this was something

that was future

and we experienced it

and now it is past.

And because it is past,

there is a certain sense

of definitiveness about it.

This has surely happened.

But what Paul is saying

to us here

is that these things

that are still future for us,

this eternal life,

this hope of eternal life

in the end of verse 7,

even though it's still future,

it's absolutely sure,

it's absolutely definite,

it's as if it has already happened.

And in reality,

when we think about eternal life,

we realize that this

has actually happened

to some extent for us.

So when Jesus talks

about eternal life,

he says,

eternal life is to know

God the Father

and to know Jesus Christ

who God has sent.

And so when we think about it,

if we know God the Father,

if we know Jesus Christ

whom he has sent,

then in some sense

we already have eternal life

right now,

which is an amazing thought.

But at the same time,

there is an eternal life

that is still future.

We still have to enter

into the fullness

of this eternal life.

We have been reminded

this week,

horrifically,

how sin still exists

in our world,

how things still happen

that disturb us,

seriously disturb us,

because we have not

entered into the kingdom

of God fully.

We have not fully attained

the eternal life

that is set before us.

And so there is this sense

that eternal life

is now ours.

God has saved us

to this now,

and yet it is something

that God has saved us

to that is still future.

And so as we think

about what God

has saved us from,

as we think about

what God has saved us to,

we realize that we're

between the past

and we're between

the past and the future.

And so as we consider

how we should live

accordingly,

we will realize

that we're affected

by both our past

and our future.

It can be a hard thing

though sometimes

to think about

how we can be

heirs of eternal life

and this can be true now

and at the same time

it can be future.

But the word heirs

that Paul uses

is very helpful

in verse 7,

at the end of verse 7.

When we think about

an heir,

we realize that

a firstborn son

or daughter of a king

is immediately part

of the royal family,

so they're immediately

their royal lineage,

their heir to the throne,

so the minute

the king dies

and the heir to the throne

will ascend the throne,

which explains partially

why there's so many

stories about royal pregnancies

and things like that

in tabloid magazines

because one day

this little baby,

who is only a baby,

will rule over a nation

either literally

or figuratively

in some cases.

But it helps us

to understand

what it is

to be sure

of something now,

so this heir

to the throne

is sure

that they will

one day be

on the throne

and yet it is

a future event

for that child.

I don't know

if any of you

are argumentative,

but if you are,

you might say,

well,

what if the heir dies?

What if the heir

is overcome

by some disease

or sickness

and they can't

fulfill their duties?

The genius,

I think,

of what Paul

is saying here

is that when we

think about

our being heirs

of eternal life

or of the hope

of eternal life

is that all

the potential obstacles,

all the potential

deterrents,

all the potential

hurdles to our

being able to

enjoy eternal life

have already

been removed.

So if we ask

ourselves,

what if I sin?

We can say,

well,

Jesus has paid

for my sins.

If we ask

ourselves,

what if I die?

Which is so

ultimate and so

definite.

God tells us

death has no

sting anymore

because Christ

has died in our

place.

And so we realise

that the

comprehensiveness,

the purity,

if you will,

or the density

of what God

has done in the

past is matched

by the density

of what he has

prepared for us

in the future,

the purity of it,

the comprehensiveness

of it.

There is no doubt

what we have

been saved to.

And so the

final thing we

want to see,

having thought

about what God

has saved us

from and what

God has saved

us to,

the more practical

of you will

want to know,

well,

what does that

mean for us?

I think,

first of all,

we have to

reiterate that it

does mean we

need to believe

in these things.

So the expectation

as Jesus preaches

through the Gospels

is that you repent

and believe.

That's the first,

that's the ongoing,

that's the essential

response to these

truths,

what God has

saved us from

and what he has

saved us to.

But it's not the

only response.

And we've seen

that already in

chapters 1 and 2

of Titus.

There are practical

things that should

flow out of this

faith response.

And again in

chapter 3,

Paul highlights

some of these

things.

You'll have noticed

that we started

in verse 3 of

chapter 3,

but in verses 1 and

2 and in verse 8,

there are very

practical things

that Paul calls

us to do.

He says,

remind the people,

writing to Titus,

he says,

remind the people,

that is,

believers,

to be subject

to rulers and

authorities,

to be obedient,

to be ready to

do whatever is

good and so on.

And in verse 8,

he says that we

are to be devoted

to doing good.

Now the reason

we've taken

these verses

last is because

we want to make

clear the logic

of the Gospel.

So we need

to realise

that the but

at the start

of verse 4

is very important.

It's because

God has done

all these things

in the past

and it's because

God has promised

us all these

things in the future

that then we

seek to live out

verses 1 and 2

and verse 8.

And in fact,

the whole of

the letter to

Titus.

It is because

of what God

has done

that we are

to be subject

to rulers

and authorities.

It is because

we are to

remember that

we were once

disobedient and

that we have

been changed

from that life

that now we

are called

to be obedient.

So as a result

of the work

by God

in our lives

we are to

live differently.

Paul reminds

us of what

we were.

Not so that

we can be

despairing,

not so that

we can be

boastful

that we have

been changed,

but he reminds

us of what

we were so

that we can

be conduits

or vehicles

or channels

of the love

that we have

received from

God to those

people who are

still in a

position where

they don't

know God,

to those people

who are still

disobedient and

foolish and

enslaved.

So as we look

at the people

around us in

our families,

in our friends,

in our society,

who seem to be

rebelling against

God, who seem

enslaved to work

or whatever it

might be,

there should be

a humility

because we

were once that

and it is God

who has set us

free.

So Paul

reminds us of

these things

so that we

might be now

living lives

that are

reflective of

God's love.

I think,

I guess it

can be pretty

abstract and it

can be pretty

hard to get a

handle on,

but maybe a

couple of

illustrations will

hopefully flesh

out the idea

a little better

that what God

has done should

affect how we

live.

I don't know

if you've seen

the Shawshank

Redemption

movie.

If you

haven't, you

should, and if

you have, then

you'll know the

ending.

But at the end

of that movie

there's a

character called

Red, and Red

is Irish I

think, and he

has been in

Shawshank prison

for decades, and

he's finally been

released, he's

finally free,

totally free,

free to the

point that if he

went back to the

prison and asked

let me in, they

wouldn't let him

in, because

he's free.

And yet at the

same time, there

are things in

Red's life that

he can't seem to

shake from his

imprisoned past.

So when he's

working in the

supermarket, he

asks the

manager whether

he's allowed to

go to use the

bathroom, and the

manager is getting

frustrated because

he doesn't need

to do this, and

yet Red keeps

asking whether he

can use the

bathroom because

he's living in a

way, even though

he's free, he's

living in a way as

if he was still

imprisoned.

So I think that

helps us to

realise that there

are things that

have happened to

us, we've been

delivered from

these ways of

acting so that we

need to no longer

live that way, we

need to no longer

be disobedient or

disleaved or

enslaved.

I think if we

think about the

future element of

it, a second

illustration might

help.

I don't know if

you remember, maybe

five years ago or

so, Prince Harry

was in all the

tabloids for all

the wrong reasons.

So Prince Harry

over in England

was going to a

costume party and

he wore what was

an incredibly

insensitive costume,

a Nazi uniform,

and he was in all

the tabloids, in all

the broadsheets as

well being talked

about, and much

was written, but at

the very heart, at

the essence of the

problem was that

Prince Harry is

third in line to the

throne of England,

husband, and he

acted in a way that

was not in keeping

with how an heir to

the throne should

act.

We as heirs of

eternal life should

act in a way that is

in keeping with what

it is to be heirs of

eternal life.

We shouldn't act the

way we once acted.

We should live lives

that are peaceable, we

should live lives that

are considerate, that

show true humility to

all men.

I guess as we finish, we

want to ask what

repercussions that has

for how we live our

lives in Carragalline,

how we live our lives

in relationship to the

government of our

country.

I think in Ireland we

have a somewhat patchy

relationship to leaders

in government or in

church life or in

financial life.

We want to ask whether

the way in which we

relate to our team

leader at work or the

people that we work

with is in keeping

what Paul calls us to

hear.

It's interesting as we

read through verses

1 and 2 that Paul is

focusing on rulers and

authorities in verse 1

but in verse 2 he

broadens the net.

He says we're to

slander no one and he

says we're to show

true humility towards

all men.

So if you ask what

about the person who

cut me off in traffic

this morning, who I

don't know, I

don't know.

Yeah, Paul says no,

we're not to slander

them, we're to show

true humility towards

them.

What about the person

who seems to have a

vendetta against me?

Paul says yeah, that's

included in this

category, we're to

slander no one and to

show true humility

towards all men.

And the amazing thing

is that as we do this

people will see and

realise that we have

been loved by God, we

have been redeemed by

God.

There is a pure

redemption at work in

our lives that causes

us to live in this way,

in a way that is

different to what we

were and hopefully in a

way that stands in

contrast to the world

also.

As we finish, I guess,

if we're being honest,

we are sometimes like

red in the Shawshank

Redemption.

We do sometimes return to

old patterns of life.

But I want to encourage

us this morning and

this passage encourages

us that we need not

live that way.

We need not be

enslaved to our old

patterns of life.

We have been saved

from our old selves.

We can live

accordingly.

And we are sometimes

like Prince Harry as

well.

We're living in a way

that is not in keeping

with people who are

heirs of eternal life.

And so again, to

encourage us this morning

that as we look

towards the coming

week, to keep

eternity in mind,

to keep this bright,

radiant future that

God has promised us

in mind.

It's true that there

certainly are challenges,

there certainly is sin

going on in our lives.

But hopefully as we

look to the goal,

hopefully as we look

to what God has

prepared us for,

we will be able to

live in a way that is

in keeping with what

he has done in our

lives.

We are called to

devote ourselves to

good.

I think that's probably

a good summary.

As Paul puts it in

verse 8, we are

called to devote

ourselves to good

because God has

saved us from what

we were, because

God has saved us

to be something

entirely different

and to enjoy

eternal life, to

know him and to

know his son, our

Lord Jesus, forever.

So as we close,

I'd encourage us to

keep those two

things in mind

this week as we

live in society,

in public, as we

relate to others

around us, that

they too might be

able to say at

some point in the

future, I was once

like that, but when

I knew the kindness

and the love of God,

my Saviour, perhaps

through somebody in

this church, I was

able to rejoice and

realize that he

saved me too.

so let's pray and

commit ourselves to

God.

Father, we're so

grateful for the

work that you have

done in us.

Father, we pray that

you would work

through us this

coming week.

We're only too

conscious that

sometimes we all

too often fail to

live in a way that

is reflective of

what you have

done in our

lives.

We are conscious

that we all too

often fail to

live in a way that

is reflective of

the eternal hope,

the eternal life

that we have

before us, this

sure and definite

promise that you

have given us.

Help us to know

your presence and

your power as we

seek to live out

these truths.

Thank you,

Father, so much

for this time

together.

Thank you that we

can come to the

table together and

remember once more

what you have done

for us.

In Jesus' name we

pray these things.

Amen.