"Divine Grace on Display"
Titus 2:11-14
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; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Introduction: The most important word in our text this morning is the word "appeared" which means to show or to put on display or in some translations, to reveal. God has displayed His grace in at least three ways in our text. Because of grace we can:
I. Leave the Sinful Life (11)
a. The purpose of grace
Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
1 Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
God has displayed His grace in order to save us but many don't receive His offer because they are unwilling to let go of the world.
Billy Graham tells the story about a little child the was playing with a very valuable vase. He put his hand into it and could not withdraw it. His father too, tried his best to get it out, to no avail. They were thinking of breaking the vase when the father said, "Now my son, make one more try. Open your hand and hold your fingers out straight as you see me doing, and then pull." To their astonishment the little fellow said, "O no, dad, I couldn't put my fingers out like that because if I did I would drop my dime."
Smile, if you will but thousands of us are like that little boy, so busy holding on to the world's worthless dimes that we cannot accept liberation. Drop the trifles in your life. Surrender! Let go, and let God have His way in your life.
As someone aptly stated, "Jesus does not just want to be resident in you, He wants to be president in you." Ah, yes! When we relinquish our struggles, and find our rest in Christ, then the winds of the storm may blow, but we find ourselves fixed upon the Rock.
b. The person of grace
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.
2 Timothy 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
Chuck Swindoll in "The Grace Awakening" wrote this:
If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness,
So God sent us a Savior!
c. The power of grace
Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Grace is not only evangelistic it is also educative. The word "teaching" in the KJV refers to instruction, training or as one writer said, discipline. Because of grace we can:
II. Learn the Sanctified Life (12-13)
What does the word sanctification mean? A very simplified definition would be "growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." Sanctification is a spiritual process that begins at the instant we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. He then produces spiritual fruit in us throughout our Christian life and this process climaxes when we are glorified with Jesus. The word "teaching" here is training in and by discipline: The discipline of grace teaches us to:
a. Reject the old life
Negatively by grace we have the power to "deny ungodliness and worldly lust" which would be attitudes, affections and appetites that are anti-God, that are contrary to His Word, will and way!
Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Colossians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
b. Receive the new life
Positively, by grace we have the power to live soberly, which speaks of our own behavior which should be serious and spiritually minded; righteously, which is in relationship to our fellowman and godly, which is our relationship with God Himself.
Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
c. Reflect the Christ life
By grace we are to do this "in this present world." Grace is not something we keep to ourselves or hoard or secret away somewhere, it is to be lived out for all to see.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Grace also instructs us that we are to live a life of service to others and to God. A professing of Christianity without service is irreconcilable. We are to:
III. Love the Service Life (14)
Someone said that, "we are saved to serve!" This is true for grace teaches us to be "zealous of good works."
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
a. Our purchase
"The forcible 'Himself, His whole self, the greatest gift ever given,' must not be overlooked;" for us -- Greek, "in our behalf;" redeem us -- deliver us from bondage by paying the price of His precious blood, an appropriate image in addressing bond-servants. Jamison, Fausset & Brown Commentary.
Galations 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
Sin brings us into bondage and, slavery, redemption is a deliverance from it; sin binds guilt upon the sinner, and lays him under obligation to punishment, and renders him liable to the curse and condemnation of the law; Christ was made sin, and a curse for us, that he might redeem us from both, and deliver us from the punishment due to sin; which he has done by bearing it in his own, body on the tree, whereby he has redeemed us from all iniquity, we are a purchased possession of the Master, He has paid the price himself to free us.
ILL. Henry Lauder was a comedian, & during World War II his 2 sons were drafted into the army. Both of them died in combat.
After the war was over Henry Lauder was near a nervous breakdown. He went to his doctor, who recommended complete rest & relaxation. So he went to the seashore & walked along the beach. He spent his time reading & meditating & relaxing.
He made a few new friends, & one of them was a small boy. One night Henry Lauder & this small boy were walking along the beach as the sun was going down. They listened to the waves, & looked at the scenery around them.
The boy noticed that there were little flags with stars on them hanging in the windows of some of the houses along the beach. He asked Mr. Lauder what that meant. Henry Lauder said, "It means that in every home where there is a flag that that family sent a son to war." "But," said the boy, "some of the stars are silver & some are gold. What does that mean?"
Lauder said, "Where there is a silver star it means that the boy came home safely. Where there is a gold star it means that the boy died in combat." They walked a little further & night came upon them. The boy looked up at the first evening star, & he said, "There is a star in God's sky - & it is a gold star! Does it mean that God sent His son to war?"
Lauder stood for a moment, & with a catch in his voice said, "Yes, son. It means that God sent His son into war - the greatest war that has ever been fought. And yes, the star is gold because God's son died in that combat."
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.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law competed with one another in strictness. They had atomized God's law into 613 rules and bolstered these with 1,521 emendations (Yancey 132).
We can see the length to which this went from the following facts. For many generations the Scribal Law was never written down; it was the oral law, and it was handed down in the memory of generations of Scribes. In the middle of the third century A.D. a summary of it was made and codified. That summary is known as the Mishnah; it contains sixty-three tractates on various subjects of the Law, and in English makes a book of almost eight hundred pages. (Barclay 129)
The Law as originally given by God was based on the Ten Commandments. The 1521 emendations from the teachers of the law had reduced the commandments to a legalistic code that completely disregarded the principles intended by God.
A good example of this can be seen in the treatment of the Fourth Commandment: Remember the Sabbath and Keep It Holy. First, one of the things considered to be unholy on the Sabbath was work. Work had to be defined, and one of the things considered to be work was writing; but how much writing constituted work? Here is what the teachers of the law said: He who writes two letters of the alphabet with his right or with his left hand, whether of one kind or of two kinds, if they are written with different inks or in different languages, is guilty. Even if he should write two letters from forgetfulness, he is guilty, whether he has written them with ink or with paint, red chalk, vitriol, or anything which makes a permanent mark. Also he that writes on two walls that form an angle, or on two tablets of his account book so that they can be read together is guilty...But, if anyone writes with dark fluid, with fruit juice, or in the dust of the road, or in sand, or in anything which does not make a permanent mark, he is not guilty.... If he writes one letter on the ground, and one on the wall of the house, or on two pages of a book, so that they cannot be read together, he is not guilty. (Barclay 129)
b. Our purification
What do you do when you purchase a slave at the slave market? You wash them, provide them with clean clothes, and set them to work!
1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
c. Our purpose
Let's look at the last part of verse 14. "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
The object of our redemption is "good works." We are, "...are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." The following quote is Attributed to John Wesley
"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."
Conclusion:
THE REACH OF GOD'S GRACE
Our worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.
SOURCE: Jerry Bridges
UNEXPECTED GRACE
I left work early so I could have some uninterrupted study time right before the final in my Youth Issues class. When I got to class, everybody was doing their last minute studying. The teacher came in and said he would review with us for just a little bit before the test. We went through the review, most of it right on the study guide, but there were some things he was reviewing that I had never heard of. When questioned about it, he said that they were in the book and we were responsible for everything in the book. We couldn't really argue with that.
Finally it was time to take the test.
"Leave them face down on the desk until everyone has one and I'll tell you to start," our prof instructed.
When we turned them over, every answer on the test was filled in! The bottom of the last page said the following: "This is the end of the Final Exam. All the answers on your test are correct. You will receive an 'A' on the final exam. The reason you passed the test is because the creator of the test took it for you. All the work you did in preparation for this test did not help you get the A. You have just experienced...grace."
He then went around the room and asked each student individually, "What is your grade? Do you deserve the grade you are receiving? How much did all your studying for this exam help you achieve your final grade?"
Now I am not a crier by any stretch of the imagination, but I had to fight back tears when answering those questions and thinking about how the Creator has passed the test for me.
Discussion afterward went like this: "I have tried to teach you all semester that you are a recipient of grace. I've tried to communicate to you that you need to demonstrate this gift as you work with young people. Don't hammer them; they are not the enemy. Help them, for they will carry on your ministry if it is full of GRACE!" Talking about how some of us had probably studied hours and some just a few minutes but had all received the same grade, he pointed to a story Jesus told in Matthew 20. The owner of a vineyard hired people to work in his field and agreed to pay them a certain amount. Several different times during the day, he hired more workers. When it was time to pay them, they all received the same amount. When the ones who had been hired first thing in the morning began complaining, the boss said, "Should you be angry because I am kind?" (Matthew 20:15).
The teacher said he had never done this kind of final before and probably would never do it again, but because of the content of many of our class discussions, he felt like we needed to experience grace.
Have you thanked your Creator today because of the grace you have experienced?
SOURCE: MikeysFunnies.com. This happened 04/30/02 in a youth ministry class at Hannibal-LaGrange College.
