“Grace Points”
“Titus 2:11-15”
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
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I. Grace Point # 1 - Saving Grace
What is grace you ask? I know what the definition is but it’s kind of difficult to comprehend just what “unmerited favor” means in a practical everyday sense. Maybe this illustration will help.
THE CONCEPT OF GRACE
ILL - There is a great article that illustrates the concept of grace written by Dr. Charles Stanley.
“One of my more memorable seminary professors had a practical way of illustrating to his students the concept of grace. At the end of his evangelism course he would distribute the exam with the caution to read it all the way through before beginning to answer it. This caution was written on the exam as well. As we read the test, it became unquestionably clear to each of us that we had not studied nearly enough. The further we read, the worse it became. About halfway through, audible groans could be heard throughout the lecture hall. On the last page, however, was a note that read, "You have a choice. You can either complete the exam as given or sign your name at the bottom and in so doing receive an A for this assignment." Wow? We sat there stunned. "Was he serious? Just sign it and get an A?" Slowly, the point dawned on us, and one by one we turned in our tests and silently filed out of the room.
When I talked with the professor about it afterward, he shared some of the reactions he had received through the years. Some students began to take the exam without reading it all the way through, and they would sweat it out for the entire two hours of class time before reaching the last page. Others read the first two pages, became angry, turned the test in blank, and stormed out of the room without signing it. They never realized what was available, and as a result, they lost out totally. One fellow, however, read the entire test, including the note at the end, but decided to take the exam anyway. He did not want any gifts; he wanted to earn his grade. And he did. He made a C+, but he could easily have had an A. This story illustrates many people’s reaction to God’s solution to sin. Some people look at God’s standard--moral and ethical perfection--and throw their hands up in surrender. Why even try? They tell themselves. I could never live up to all that stuff. Others are like the student who read the test through and was aware of the professor’s offer but took the test anyway. Unwilling to simply receive God’s gift of forgiveness, they set about to rack up enough points with God to earn it. But God’s grace truly is like the professor’s offer. It may seem unbelievable, but if we accept it, then, like the stunned students who accepted the professor’s offer, we, too, will discover that, Yes, God’s grace truly is free. All we have to do is accept it.
ILL - When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his quilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court. The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That’ll be ten dollars -- a dollar for every mile you went over the limit." Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid--but I am going to pay it for you." He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!" Now that is grace! Paul describes God’s grace in a unique and wonderful way in his letter to Titus. If you have your Bibles open with me to the second chapter starting at verse 11.
a. The introduction of grace
Hath appeared (epephanē). “Did appear,” the first Epiphany (the Incarnation). Second aorist passive indicative of epiphainō, old verb, in N.T. here, Titus_3:4; Luke_1:79; Acts_27:20.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
b. The illumination of grace
Bringing salvation (sōtērios). Old adjective from sōtēr (Saviour), here alone in N.T. except to sōtērion (salvation, “the saving act”) in Luke_2:30; Luke_3:6; Ephesians_6:17.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
c. The inclusivity of grace
This grace has appeared to all men in the sense that it is available to all men and accessible by all men and that all those who come to Christ in faith “shall be saved” if they call upon the name of the Lord!
THE POWER IN TOUCHING THE UNTOUCHABLE
Jesus, the Christ, is still in the business of touching the untouchable! You may feel like you are too dirty or too wicked for Jesus, the Christ, to touch you with His forgiveness today! As an illustration, you may remember the move enitled "The Elephant Man," based upon the true story of a man living in London during the 19th Century! Joseph Carey Merrick (1862 - 1890) was terribly disfigured by neurofibromatosis. His own family rejected him because of his hideous appearance! Sir Frederick Treves (1853 - 1923), a prominent British surgeon found Joseph working in a circus as a sideshow freak! Dr. Treves, in August 1866, brought Joseph Carey Merrick to a London hospital and began to treat him as a person instead of some sideshow oddity! He provided books for Joseph and soon discovered that he was a kind, intelligent person. Joseph Carey Merrick lived in that London hospital until his death! After a newspaper reported on Joseph’s progress, Dame Madge Kendal (1848 - 1935), born: Margaret Shafto Robinson, a talented English actress and theater manager - a beautiful woman of high society - and, also, a committed Christian, came to visit him. On one visit, she presented Joseph Carey Merrick with a copy of William Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet." He felt like an ugly beast cowering before a fairy princess. He was at such a loss for words that he opened the book and began to read. His voice was squeaky and broken as he read the words from the Second Act: "See! How she leaned her cheek upon her hand that I might touch her cheek." As he read that line, Dame Madge Kendal slipped quietly into the seat beside him! She responded with the words of Juliet that she had memorized from her years in the theater. Joseph read and she recited the rest of the act together! When it was done, Dame Madge Kendal leaned over and kissed the swollen, leathery cheek of Joseph Carey Merrick! Dr. Frederick Treves later recorded that from that moment on, Joseph Carey Merrick was a changed man! As I take my seat, now, know that sin has disfigured each and every one of us until even our righteousness is as filthy rags! Compared to the perfect holiness of Almighty God, our sinful lives are hideous and grotesque. However, the Lord Jesus Christ leaned over at Calvary and gifted us with the mercies of Heaven and since that day none of us have ever been the same!
(From a sermon by George Dillahunty, "Touching The Untouchable!" 6/29/2009)
II. Grace Point #2 – Schooling Grace
a. Teaching us
Those who are saved by grace are also schooled by grace. Paul wrote that the Law was the schoolmaster prior to the coming of Christ, now grace is our schoolmaster.
Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
b. Tempering us
On the negative side of holiness grace changes our behavior in two main areas of life. First, grace produces a desire to please God in every way resulting in right conduct and behavior. Implicit in this idea of “…denying ungodliness…” is the truth that those who have experienced the grace of God will want to perform all the duties towards God that He requires. Second, grace produces a change in our affections, that is, “…worldly lusts…” will lose their power and place in our lives. We will not “…love the world neither the things that are in the world…”
c. Transforming us
On the positive side of holiness grace produces and enablement that empowers us to live soberly, (restraint of our passions and propensities) righteously, (this speaks of our duty towards our fellow man) and godly, (this just the opposite of ungodliness and deals with our relations with God).
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
I am not what I ought to be.
I am not what I want to be.
I am not what I hope to be.
But still, I am not what I used to be.
And by the grace of God, I am what I am.
John Newton
III. Grace Point #3 – Sustaining Grace
a. Our preparation
“Expecting the grand object of our hope, eternal life. See Tit_1:2. This is what the Gospel teaches us to expect, and what the grace of God prepares the human heart for. This is called a blessed hope; those who have it are happy in the sure prospect of that glory which shall be revealed.” Clarke
b. Our presentation
Notice that the aim of God grace is so the Christ can “…purify unto Himself…” a people that will be totally transformed into His image. All the saved are trophies of His grace.
c. Our proclamation
Paul’s admonishes Titus to “…speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. We are to tell the world about this Gospel of Grace, grace that will save, school and sustain us to the end of life or the second coming whichever comes first.
NO CONTEST
ILL - When we get to heaven, there will be no contest to see who was the most deserving of God’s grace because no one deserves it. There will only be one contest in heaven. When we look back and see what we were before, when we see the pit from which he rescued us, when we recall how confused we were, when we remember how God reached out and hired us into His family, and how he held us in his hand, and when we see Jesus who loved us and gave himself for us, the only contest will be to see which of us will sing the loudest:
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”
SOURCE: Brian Bill in "The Scandal of Grace" on www.sermoncentral.com
