The Grace Of God

INTRO.- ILL.- Preacher Dwight L. Moody loved to study the Bible topically, and it occurred to him one day that he had never studied the subject of grace. Setting aside a day, Moody gave himself to the study of God’s grace. But a second day was required. Even on the third day Moody had not finished his task.

By the late afternoon of the third day, however, Moody was so filled with his subject that he had to go out on the street and talk to somebody about it. Stopping a complete stranger, Moody said, “My friend, do you know anything about grace?”

Surprised at the question, the man replied, “Grace who?” “Why,” Moody responded, “the grace of God that brings salvation.” (Titus 2:11) Moody then left the stranger standing on the street wondering about the grace of God.

I’m sure that all some people know about grace is “Grace who?” That is, it’s only a name of a woman and it doesn’t have anything to do with God, but in reality, it has a whole lot to do with God, because He is the God of all grace! And He is a gracious God!

I Peter 5:10-11 “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Our God is the God of all grace because He is gracious and extends His grace, His unmerited favor toward us in so many different ways!

I think perhaps there are a great many people in our world who feel like they deserve every good thing they get in life. But in reality, every good gift comes from the grace of God, not because we deserve them or we authored them.

James 1:16-17 “Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

We shouldn’t be deceived about our good gifts by saying we deserve them or by thinking we made them happen. I think the truth is, we all deserve hell because we have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory but because God is full of grace He blesses us with good things and offers to us eternal life through faith in His Son!

Our text in Titus 2 is rich with God’s grace. It’s a gold mine of God’s grace and we need to dig out those gold nuggets and treasure them.

PROP.- Our text tells us about the grace of God and what it does for us.

1- The grace of God brings salvation

2- The grace of God teaches how to live

3- The grace of God gives hope

I. THE GRACE OF GOD BRINGS SALVATION

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

ILL.- I read about a noted author who was not a believer but attended a revival meeting out of curiosity. When the invitation time came a man approached him and encouraged to go forward confess faith in Christ. The author refused. The man asked, “Don’t you want God to forgive you of your sins?” The author replied, “No, I like my sins.” I think this may be true for some people today. They are having too much fun to give up their sin. And some sin may well be “fun” to some people.

Hebrews 11:24-25 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.”

Some people think it’s fun to drink and get high. But the after affects may not be so much fun.

Proverbs 23:29-32 “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.”

Anyone who has suffered from a hangover may not say that drinking, getting high or getting drunk is much fun. And the same is true of the after affect of abusing drugs.

But some sin may be pleasurable, things that seem to bring delight to the physical body such as sexual sin or perhaps overindulgence in eating food or the addiction to certain hobbies that keep people away from the Lord.