A Grace that Teaches Us
Titus 2:11-14
Primary Purpose: To speak about how God’s grace draws us to love God
and respond to Him.
This morning, I talked about how God’s love is so different from what
you might expect or even deserve. We are following that same line of
thought tonight as we look at the grace of God that teaches us. God’s grace
according to Titus 2:11-14 teaches us many things. It teaches us to say “no”
to ungodliness and to live godly lives in this present age. It teaches us how to
follow after the Lord. Titus was having to deal with the Cretan people. They
had a bad reputation according to 1:12, it says they are liar, brutes and lazy
gluttons. Paul verified that this is true about this. He also shows that they
must be taught that this is not the way to follow God. Titus must emphasize a
better way of life. I want to look at tonight how it teaches us.
The example of Garbage Mary
There once was a lady named Garbage Mary.
She was dubbed that name by the media, she was picked up by police
in a shopping mall in Delray Beach, Florida. She was a filthy mess- and so
were her car and her two bedroom apartment. Neighbors told of her
scrounging through garbage cans in search of food, which she took back to
her apartment. Police found the garbage everywhere; in the refrigerator, in
the stove, in the cabinets-even in the bathtub.
But, they found other things as well. They found Mobil Oil Stock
worth more than $400,000. They found documents indicating she owned oil
fileds in Kansas, stock certificates from prominent firms, and passbooks from
eight large bank accounts. Police also discovered that Garbage Mary was the
daughter of a well-to-do lawyer and bank director from Illonois, who had died
several years earlier.
Garbage Mary was a millionaire, but she lived like a pauper. Great
wealth was at her fingertips, but she spent her life sifting through garbage and
trash.
There is an obvious analogy here. Too many Christians waste their
lives bedaubed with rubbish instead of wearing the royal robes of purity and
holiness which their Father holds out to them. Why live like Garbage Mary
when you can live like the child of the King. Claim your inheritance.
1. By increasing our love for God- v.11,14. God’s grace is a grace that
brings salvation. It teaches us that God loves all men. Notice the word “all”
is used in v.11. It is inclusive, it means everyone. He doesn’t just love the
loveable. Some people are loveable, they are easy to love, but many people
aren’t. Many people are mean and cruel. God’s love is offered many times
when the person doesn’t receive it. When I realize how much God loves me,
that makes me want to love Him more. John 14:23 tells me that my
obedience is proof of my love. In other words, grace reveals God’s love and
grace to me, then I grow in love which results in obedience. Obedience
always follows love. If I want to overcome sin, the answer is love God.
Then the things of this world will lose their appeal.
God could break me with His power. He could overwhelm me with
fear. He could break my will by His Presence and overwhelm by life by His
Holiness. He could terrify me with His majestic voice. But, He seeks to
persuade me by His love and grace instead.
God’s grace demonstrates God’s goodness- it shows me that God
deserves and is worthy of my worship and obedience.
2. By deepening our commitment to obedience- v.12- when I first realize
the commitment that God has made by sending His Son. The Spirit enables
us to say “no”.
3. By reminding me of our Lord’s return v.13 (Matt 24:27) The word
appearing means epiphaneia- which means to shine forth. The shining forth
of the Lord in the air. The early disciples expected Christ’s return soon.
They were working as if He could return at any moment. Their allegiance
and hope was not all pinned to this earth.
