Amanda bought me a monkey for Christmas. I didn’t want a monkey in our house so I objected.
“Where is he going to eat?” I asked
“At our table”
“Where is he going to sleep?” I inquired.
“In our bed”
“What about the odor?” I demanded.
She said – “I got used to you; I guess the monkey can too.”
Discussion:
We make so many mistakes. As Christians living the life that God desires we live can be hard. But one of the biggest mistakes we can make is making the life that God calls us to live impossible. It’s easy to see all the standards in the Old Testament, the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament and just believe that it’s impossible to match up. And then you come to church and the preacher rambles on and on about what you should and shouldn’t do – which complicates this whole idea of Christian living even more. Instead of rambling on and on this morning I want to share a message that each of us needs regardless of where you are spiritually. This message applies if you are the prodigal, the older brother, or the one sitting there thinking – “I thought he promised not to ramble”. Our message this morning is on the wonderful grace of Jesus. What a better way to start off a new year than with a message of grace.
Turn with me if you have your Bibles to (advance) Titus 2:11-14 (read)
Paul wrote a letter to his helper Titus. Titus was a preacher, a fellow missionary with Paul to Ephesus and then Corinth. Titus was in Crete when he received this letter and there is no doubt that Titus was to understand this and preach it.
Grace does three things for the Christian – You can write these down. (advance)
I. Grace Brings Salvation (11)
Paul says that grace appeared to all men -- (advance)
a. Grace – GOD’S.RICHES.AT.CHRIST’S.EXPENSE
i. Paying a debt that you can’t pay
ii. It’s based on God’s love for us
We recently got a gas bill in our mail box that wasn’t ours. Ironically it belonged to another preacher in town. I personally delivered the bill. The other preacher asked me why didn’t I just go ahead and pay it, -- Jokingly, I said – “Because I don’t like you that much.” The truth is I consider him a good friend – but not good enough to pay his bills. Someone said this --
“When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day’s pay for his time, that is a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that is an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award--yet receives such a gift anyway--that is a good picture of God’s unmerited favor. This is what we mean when we talk about the grace of God.”
b. Without Grace appearing
The word “appear” brings forth the idea that without Christ we are all in this dark bottomless pit. When God sent Jesus into the world – he literally “turned on the light” so that we can see the way out of the pit.
i. There would be no salvation
1. You can’t earn your salvation – it’s a gift (advance)
Ephesians 2:8 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
2. Not a salvation based on works, deeds and duty – it’s a gift.
We do complicate the gift. We might even take advantage of it. Do we ever compromise tonight, knowing we’ll confess tomorrow?
It’s easy to be like the guy visiting Las Vegas who called the preacher, wanting to know the hours of the Sunday service. The preacher was impressed. “Most people who come to Las Vegas don’t come to go to church.”
“Oh, I’m not coming for the church. I’m coming for the gambling and parties and wild women. If I have half as much fun as I intend to have, I’ll need a church come Sunday Morning.”
When we allow God’s grace to work in our lives it cleans the slate of our hearts. It makes us new again – we start fresh. Something like a how a garden is tilled before the planting. You don’t begin where you left off the season before – you remove all the old to make room for the new. God’s grace does something: 3 words – (advance)
II. Grace Teaches us (12-13)
a. We need to be teachable
i. Moldable
ii. Changeable
Ignorance is defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Ignorance says, when I see something I am doing wrong – I don’t have to change. You raise your voice at your spouse – a fight breaks out…but that’s not a shock because in the last 10 years, 2 years or 6 months that you have been married – it’s always happened like that – ignorance says, it will be different next time.
b. It teaches us to (advance)
i. Say NO –
Let’s say it like this – it teaches us to rise above the situation. In other words instead of just saying “No” we see the sin – and we find our needs met in Christ. When we sin we are saying that Jesus can’t or won’t meet our needs. We say no to the sin because we find our sufficiency in Christ. Paul says that grace teaches us to say NO to:
ii. Ungodliness – means a lack of love or total disregard for God.
We live in an age when many totally reject God’s influence in any area of life. Believers must refuse any action that lacks reverence for God.
iii. Worldly Passions – desires for the pleasures and activities of this world. These are the desires of people who have an anti-God mindset.
“The true learning of heaven must begin with the unlearning and laying off of all which stands in the way of the development of the new man.” – Van Oosterzee
Here is something original from your preacher, remember this –– you’ll see this on a bumper sticker somewhere. “If we are being called to stand in grace, we can no longer sit in our sin.” How do we avoid temptation – remember last week – submission to God. The more I give to God – the less I have available for the devil. The grace of God teaches us to say no – but also (advance)
c. Say YES – by the way we live, not just verbally
i. Self-Controlled – sensible, sober-minded
ii. Upright – Conduct that can not be condemned
iii. Godly – lives that are pleasing to God.
Biblically we are to get rid of the things that are against God – and replace those things with actions that come from God. It doesn’t mean that we won’t be tempted – But we will be prepared for the temptation, and avoid the temptation.
d. In this present age
i. Right here and right now
Paul is telling us that as Christians we can have victory over sin – right now. Right where you sit this morning, tomorrow morning when you go to work – you can have victory over sin.
This also speaks to those who aren’t dedicated Christians. Those who want to “clean up” before coming to church. Those we haven’t invited because they haven’t “cleaned up”. What a better place to clean up than church! Invite them to church, encourage with love. They will never, never, never clean up without Christ in their lives. This offer of grace isn’t just defined to those we believe should have it, or even those who are just like us. This offer of grace is for all men – Paul is NOT saying that all men will accept the gift of grace, but all men are offered grace. We must teach, and love those who haven’t accepted the gift of grace.
If grace brings us salvation and teaches us, it is active in one more way in our lives. (advance)
III. Grace Redeems Us (14)
It idea of redemption in the old testament is paying a price to regain something that will otherwise be forfeited. It’s been taught possibly even from this pulpit that Christ paid or owed Satan something as a way of buying us. That idea is a departure from the NT teachings. Christ does not own or pay Satan anything. Instead Christ redeems his followers from sin, the condemnation of the law and death.
a. He gave himself
i. In the form of a baby
ii. Through each day of his life
iii. Through his submission to death – even death on a cross
iv. Through the resurrection – we shouldn’t stop with the resurrection.
v. Through giving the Holy Spirit
vi. Through the great commission
Jesus Christ gave himself as a man for men. He knows what you are going through, he understands your temptation, your struggles – the Bible says that he was tempted in everyway just as we are. Jesus cared so much for the forgotten and the lonely in society – he touched when he didn’t have to. He taught when he was tired. He prayed when he needed guidance. He came as the perfect sacrifice for sins. (advance)
b. He came to redeem us (advance)
i. From all wickedness
Not only the sin that we get involved in, but the problem of sin in our lives. If your sins affect others around you – the redemptive power of Christ solves that problem too. The redemptive power of Christ might not shield me from the sins of others – we are still going to be affected, but we can know the source of our pains and struggles. (advance)
ii. To purify us
To make us holy. He came to give us the ability to live up right and holy lives, in the age we live. (advance)
iii. We are his
His grace in our lives make us his people. When Ephesians speaks of being sealed with the redemption through the holy spirit – it means that we are living Christ like lives. We are seeking his will, and to the best of our ability we are growing in him. Being a person of God – is not a gimmie – it’s not something we do once and then we are done. Get baptized and it becomes a finished work. Churches that teach that kind of doctrine don’t actually believe it, it’s not Biblical. God is not finished with you, until you die. He’s creating in you, in us this morning a desire to do what is good.
Paul uses the word “eager” – means excited & humble. I am not speaking about being fake or getting involved in emotionalism. Don’t confuse someone’s excitement about something for knowledge. (Advance to Blank)
Have you ever gotten a ticket to a sporting event, a basketball game, or maybe a hockey game. You attend the game because it’s free, but as you take your seat you are sitting real close to “LOUD FAN” – he doesn’t know much about the game. But knowledge wasn’t a requirement when he bought his ticket. Don’t confuse someone’s excitement about something for knowledge, don’t confuse someone’s blind belief in something as a good thing. God wants people who are excited and have a knowledge of his word. God’s desire is not that you put his words on your lips, or even just listen to his word being read, but that you live his word – each and every day as he walks with you.
Christians living daily in the grace of God are excited to tell others, eager to show others, loving enough to encourage others.
Conclusion:
Sometime ago I read a story of a young man who was shooting rocks with a slingshot. He could never hit his target. As he returned to Grandma’s backyard, he saw her pet duck. On impulse he took aim and let it fly. The stone hit, and the duck was dead. The boy panicked and hid the bird in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching.
After lunch that day, Grandma told his sister to help with the dishes. The sister responded that Johnny wanted to do them instead. Johnny seemed surprised – and she whispered, “remember the duck”. So, Johnny did the dishes.
What choice did he have? For the next several weeks he was at the sink often. Sometimes for his duty, sometimes for his sin. Sally whispered, “remember the duck” when he objected.
Over time he became weary and decided that any punishment would be better than endless dishes. He confessed to killing the duck. His grandma said something that shocked him – she said – “I know, I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. She said this – “Because I love you, I forgave you.”
All that time Johnny had been living as a slave to his sin, when forgiveness waited at just a confession. We aren’t much different. Satan has no bigger goal than to get you to listen to his accusations. Revelation 12:10 says that he’s the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accused them day and night before God. The more you listen to the accuser the less room you give for grace to work. Over time you will reject God’s gift. Over time you will see nothing but your sin. Look at it – how big it is. You great big pile of sin. The lies that you told, the stories that weren’t all truth, the money that you kept, the desires that you acted on, when you knew it wasn’t right, the anger that you have, the lack of patience that you have, your self-righteousness. Can you see your sin? That’s what Christ died for. Church – listen – not so that you could continue in your sin – but so that you would have forgiveness and choose life over death, joy over pain, peace over guilt.
If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and savior don’t wait any longer. This is the greatest thing you will ever do, next to living a dedicated life. God wants more than anything to give you his grace, and for you to accept it. Maybe you are here this morning and you have gotten away from the point where God wants you. You’ve made bad choices, you’ve allowed friends to influence morality choices, maybe you’ve stopped praying, stopped caring. God desires to restore you this morning. God desires to make you whole. Come this morning as we stand and sing.
