Please remain standing for our scripture reading. This morning we'll be reading from the book of Titus, chapter 2, verses 11 through 14. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated. Let's pray together, shall we? Our Father, we're thankful for your grace. It's amazing. In fact, this morning, 250 years ago, exactly today, the song Amazing Grace was sung in the congregation. What a glorious thing it is, our Father, to know your grace and to experience your love and your mercy. We're thankful for your unmerited favor towards sinful men. In fact, Father, without your grace, we'd be lost without none. Father, you and your love sent your son, the Lord Jesus. Grace incarnate. So we might have life, we might have joy, and we might experience true peace. Father, we pray now that you would use the word this morning to speak to our hearts. Help us, our Father, to concentrate on what you would have for us this day. And we'll give you the thanks and praise because we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. I'm sure all of you are aware today is the first day of the year of our Lord, 2023, right? And so I said to myself, what a better time than to talk about resolutions, New Year's resolutions. And I'll bet you there are several people here because you're that type that put things on paper or think things through and you're already ready to go, all right? Maybe there's some here that never think things through, all right? And you're not ready to go, so I'm going to give you one, all right? And so here's the New Year's resolution I'd want you to think about and spend time on, and it's this. This year, in the year of our Lord, 2023, let's get back to the basics of the gospel. All right? And I found over the years that whenever I get away from the basics, I'm lost. And it just so happens that the passage that we are going to look at this morning has the basics as good as any, all right? Titus tells us that there's two epiphanies of God. For the grace of God hath appeared, and then he tells us, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God. The reason I use the word epiphany is because that's the Greek word behind it, the appearing of God. And so how do we live in the age that we're in today, all right? Well, the answer's right here in our text. And this morning, I want us to look at that. Before I do, though, let me just share with you my big idea, all right? So this is the idea that I hope that follows through with the text. And the big idea is this. Grace, rightly perceived, compels holiness. Grace, rightly received, or perceived compels holiness. Now, what kind of grace is this? Think about it, all right? The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. When I was a young man, I used to hear the word grace, and I never really understood what it meant. And most of you here today probably could give you the definition, grace is God's unmerited favor, right? But this morning, I want us to look at this grace as more than just saving us from our sin, but this grace that continues to work in our life to make us like Christ and then brings us into the kingdom of God. So this morning, what we're going to do is we're gonna look at grace with the following headings, redemption, revitalization, and then reward. Look with me in our text, chapter two, verse 11. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all The first thing we learn is, is that grace redeems us. Now you say, well, why do we need grace? Because we as mankind can't save ourselves, can we? In fact, ladies and gentlemen, God's grace has to bring salvation to lost mankind. Because without God's grace, we would never come to a saving knowledge. of the Lord Jesus. So this salvation was not discovered by sinners, it appeared to them via the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what's amazing is, is in the Greek literature, the word that we see here, appeared, epiphany, is a word used as a technical term to describe in literature, the hero, okay? So think with me for a second, all right? You're watching a video of Superman. And when does Superman arrive? At the exact right moment. Boom, he appears, right? And saves the day. That's exactly what this text is saying. Jesus arrived at the exact right time to save the day. And he tells us in Galatians 4, that in the fullness of time, what? God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, so we might be redeemed. What a glorious truth that is, you see. So God's grace sent his son to those who were in bondage to sin. And what I love about God's grace is this, that God's grace is for all men. Take your Bibles and turn with me just for a moment back a little bit to 1 Timothy chapter 2. Just a few pages back if you have your Bibles open. 1 Timothy chapter 2. Notice with me if you would verses 3 through 6. God's word says, this is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior. who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. There's a universal need, Paul says, and God provided a universal remedy for all who would believe and put their faith and trust in Christ Jesus. So by God's grace, we have been forgiven. Christ gave himself for us. By his death, he met the just demands of God's law, which means that he became our substitute. You're in Titus chapter two. Would you drop down with me to verse 14? Because in verse 14, he explains this salvation just a little further. He says this, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness. By God's grace, we have been forgiven. We have been redeemed, which means we have been set free by paying the price. Now this morning, I've been reading in the book of the Revelation for my devotions, and I came across the passage of scripture in chapter 5, and I want to just read it for you. You don't need to turn back there, but verse 9 and 10 says, And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and by your blood you have ransomed people from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have made them a kingdom of priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. What was the cost of buying us back out of the slave market of sin? The blood of Jesus. We have been redeemed, which means what? Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. Christ's death was an objective, vicarious, penal satisfaction for the sins of his By objective, I'm talking about a real God dealing with real sins. Vicarious, I'm saying He took our place. Penal, He paid the penalty for our sins. And we know that in Romans, the Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. And the text says we have been redeemed from all lawlessness, which means that sin shall no longer master our lives. Now remember the context, all right? What's Paul doing here in Titus? Paul's saying, Titus, here's what I want you to teach the people. I want you to teach the young men this. I want you to teach the young women this. I want you to teach the older ladies this. I want you to teach the younger ladies this. Here's what you teach to the slaves. Do this, you see. And isn't it interesting that after he gets all done telling us this, then he says, I want you to reprove, rebuke with all longsuffering. Make sure this information gets out, you see, in verse 15. And so this brings us then to the second ministry of grace. Salvation is not only a change of position when we're set free from slavery of sin, but it's also a change of attitude, appetite, ambition, and action. In other words, when you become a Christian, you become a new creation. Old things pass away, behold, all things become new, you see. Everything changes when you repent and believe and trust Christ as your Savior. Now listen, the same grace that redeems also revitalizes us and makes us holy. So we look here and we see this participle in verse 12. He says, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. Teaching has the idea of discipling us, you see. Now, remember our definition of a disciple from last week? It's this. A disciple is a forgiven sinner who was learning Christ in repentance and faith. a forgiven sinner who was learning Christ in repentance and faith. And I'm going to show you how that works in a moment. But Paul is saying we're being discipled by God's grace, which means we are given the power to become the kind of people that God wants us to be so we can glorify him. And so what I'm trying to tell you is, is this, all right, God's grace trains, God's grace gives you the ability to live in such a way that you bring glory to God. So it's not up to us in some sense. Everything that we need, the power to be able to carry out is from Christ, the grace that he has given us in training us, you see. So grace not only saves, but it undertakes our training. So this power to live the life brings glory to God, and it has both a negative and a positive. Did you notice that in our verse? Let's start with the negative. Training us to do what? To renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in the present age. Paul says we are to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. In other words, here's what he's saying. We need to say no. The verb renounce, listen, means to do it once and for all. It's not a daily thing. Once and for all, renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. Now, ungodliness and worldly passions is a vague statement, but it's not really that hard to understand. Because what is ungodliness? Anything that's not godly, right? And then when we think about worldly passions, man, that's where we live, isn't it? What are some of the worldly passions that are around us? There's that sexual passion, isn't there? There's what else? There's anger. And when we're angry, what are we saying? God, you made a mistake. I should be happy all the time, right? There's hatred. And interesting, one John tells us that if we hate our brothers, we don't know Christ. There's ambition, the passion that I have to have all the right stuff, right? The right house, the right cars, the right everything. And God said, look, all right, I want you to rouse that. I want you to set that aside. I want you to say no to that. Now folks, listen, it's a settled matter because we're in Christ. Remember, our attitudes and our appetites and our ambitions and our actions have changed. And since it's a settled matter, then we can begin to work on the positives. In other words, we can now live life to the fullness. or I can say it this way, now we can say yes to what God wants us to do. Now notice these words are the exact opposite. What does he say in our text? Live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. That's what he says. Self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. Now, self-control, this emphasis is on the believer's relationship to himself. All right? Ungodliness is you live for self. Self-control is we live for Christ. We live for others. You remember the thing you learned in Sunday school? Jesus others you, that's what brings joy. But then he uses the word upright and that deals with our relationship with others. And then by adding the word godly, the apostle reminds us that the Christian life is one that is dependent on Christ for its power and its strength. Now, how many people are sitting there and thinking, pastor, what does that look like? Saying no to ungodliness and yes to self-control and godly living. Well, I want us to look at a couple of passages of scripture, and the first one I want to go to is found in the book of Philippians. Would you turn there with me to Philippians chapter two? Chapter 2, we're going to start reading in verse 12. Paul says, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my present, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So do you see what he's saying? All right, here's the deal, all right? Put on, put off. Say yes, say no. Say no, say yes. So what? All right. God's worked in us because of his grace. Now we work that salvation out, you see, and what we see is this man cooperates with what God's doing. Again, all the power we need to live the proper Christian life that brings glory to Jesus is there. It's just a matter of us then deciding to say yes and then begin to live it out in front of us. Let's go to another passage of scripture. Go with me to the book of Ephesians, please. Just back a couple of pages. Anybody that's ever done a Bible study with me are gonna say, yeah, I know this passage, all right, because it comes up about three times or four times in my Bible study. But in Ephesians chapter four, I wanna start reading in verse 20. Paul says, but that is not the way you learn Christ, assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as truth is in Jesus. to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new self created after likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So what's the prescription there? Put off by the renewing of your mind, and then put on, all right? And so what does he say? Say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. Then live self-controlled, upright, godly lives. Well, ladies and gentlemen, listen. The secret of putting off and putting on is understanding what God's word says. Because did you notice it said by the renewing of your mind? And so as we get into God's word and God's word begins to challenge us, we begin to see ourselves in our true sin. And then we say, wait a minute, that's not good. All right. God's worked in me so I can put this off. And then I can replace that with something better. and it's gonna be great. Now, I don't know about you, but when I was a young Christian, there was things that I knew I shouldn't do. And I'd say, I gotta quit this. And I'd try for a while. And then all of a sudden, it'd come right back. And what I didn't understand back in those days is, is that if you take something away, it leaves a vacuum. And it needs to be replaced. And if I don't replace it with something godly, it's never gonna change. And so I would go a week and a month and a year and two years and 10 years. And folks, to my shame, there's sins in my life that I still haven't been able to deal with. But that's what a Christian does. He continues to fight and deal with those sins. And listen, if you're not in your Bible on a daily basis, Your mind's not being renewed. And you can't put off and put on because you're not even sure where you're at anymore. Now folks, is that not basics? Listen, put down the social media for a few minutes. And put in your hand the efficient, sufficient, perfect, literal word of God. And let the word of God change you and make you into what Jesus is like. Isn't that the goal of Christianity, to be like Jesus? Romans chapter eight, verse 29. Now, do you remember our definition of a disciple? A forgiven sinner who is learning Christ in repentance and faith. Let's go now to the book of 1 John. Remember, we're saying no, yes, by the renewing of our mind, verse five. This is the message you have heard from him and we proclaim to you, that God is light and him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sins. So ladies and gentlemen, here we have this great statement in verse seven. And the statement is, is that we're to walk in the light. You see, Because why? We're in Christ and he is in the light. And because he's the light, we wanna be like him. But then notice with me, he explains what he's saying and he does that in verse eight and verse 10. He says it this way. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Verse 10, if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. What's he saying? He's saying this, that a true disciple has to have an open attitude to admitting their sinfulness. And again, if you're not in the word, you're not gonna admit your sinfulness. But if you're in the Word, then you're gonna say, oh man, I've been confronted with sin. Because what is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that we read in the Gospel of John? It's in 15 or 16. He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment to come, right? And so we read the Bible, we realize it's sin. And don't you, can't you imagine why John, I mean he hammers this point twice. If you say you have no sin, what? You deceive yourself, you're a liar. So we need to have an open attitude to admitting our sinfulness. Now back to our definition of a disciple. A forgiven sinner who was learning Christ in repentance and faith. And so then when we're confronted with our sin, what's our response? Well, let's look back down at 1 John 1.9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And what does the word confess mean? It means to agree with God. So if we agree with God that it's sin, we confess it, he's what? Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Isn't that awesome? That's what a disciple does. He gets in the Word of God. The Word of God speaks to his heart of his sinfulness. And then he does what? He doesn't deny it. He's got an attitude of, hey, God, this is right. That is sin. I agree with you. He confesses his sin. And then what? Jesus forgives them of sin, you see. And this is a daily thing. In fact, ladies and gentlemen, if you're not doing this a dozen times a day, something's wrong. But then, praise God, he tells us why that's available. Let's continue to read in the chapter two. He says, my little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only. And so Jesus, who sets at the right hand of the father, when I confess my sins, he becomes my advocate. And he reminds Jesus, listen, he's in me, father. And he puts up his hands, and the father can see the scars. And he says, hey, this guy's me, he's forgiven, you see. Folks, listen. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. Now we say that a lot, but do you understand that? But listen, sanctification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, through the scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone as well. And what makes us right with God is not what we do for Him, It's what? What he's done for us, right? Hallelujah. Because I could never do enough to please God. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins, but not for our sins alone. Folks, listen, as Christians, we live in this present age, but we don't live forward, do we? Now, what do we call this? Well, class, if you don't tell me sanctification, I haven't been preaching in a long time. But remember, God's goal for us is what? To make us just like Jesus, be conformed to the very image of his son. Now remember, grace revitalizes because God purifies for himself a people for his own possession. Would you look back down at verse 14? I find that interesting, how these, verse 14 kind of ties everything back together. It says, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all all in us, and to purify himself a people for his own possession. Yeah. We belong to God. He's ours. Better yet, we're his. Ain't that great? We are his own possession. It doesn't get any better than that. The creator and sustainer of the world owns us. We're his. We're his possession. You know, isn't it funny how we can get all excited about a football team or a basketball team or a hockey team and identify with it? And Jesus says, you're mine. Identify with me. That's all there is to that. I belong to the creator and sustainer And listen, a people for his own possession, when he uses that phrase, he's dipping back into Old Testament language. Let me show you where that's used. Turn with me back all the way to the book of Exodus, please. Chapter 19. Now, this is the Mosaic Covenant. And Moses says to the people of Israel in verse 5, now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. and you shall be to me a kingdom of priest and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. What is God saying to the nation? You're mine, you belong to me, but you notice if you obey me. Now, let's go back to the New Testament and talk about this possession. Go back with me to 1 John, this time chapter three. Look with me, if you would, in verses two and three. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Beloved, we are God's children now. Isn't that amazing? We belong to him. Now, We see God's grace saves and God's grace teaches, but God's grace also rewards. Look back at your text in chapter 2 of Titus verse 13. He says, waiting for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and our savior, Jesus. This is the blessed hope. And folks, it's a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ, including the resurrection. And isn't it amazing, he says, it's a glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And here we see that word epiphany again, the appearing, the second return of Jesus. And he tells us what? That this Jesus is God himself incarnate. Now, this verse answers the question then, and here it is, how long are we to live according to these standards? I wish I had a dime for every time someone said, pastor, we're no longer under the law, we can just about do whatever we want. Really? Did someone erase Titus chapter 2, 11 through 14 from the Bible? How long are we to live according to these standards? The answer is until the next epiphany. until Jesus returns, and because when he returns, he's gonna make everything right, and the presence of sin will be no longer gone. Listen, we're not allowed to say that in this age of grace there are no standards for us to follow. Holiness remains our obligation until Jesus returns. In summary, the grace of God provides our past, our present, and our future. Now let me just close with a couple of questions. Question number one, have you lost your ability to say no? teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly passions. Folks, listen, worldly passions should not have control, should they? Why? Because God worked in us the grace and the power to be able to say no. What does Paul say to the church in Corinth? He says, all things are lawful to me, but not all things are expedient. I can do it, but it's not the best. Have you lost the ability to say no? Question number two this morning is this. Have you lost your desire to live life to the fullness? And that's to say yes. Folks, listen. Only being in the will of God will you have true satisfaction and joy. And we think these worldly passions are going to make us happy. And what does it do for you? You wake up late with a headache? when instead you can live for Jesus. Live life to the fullness and have real joy and happiness because you're doing what you were made to do and that's to bring glory to Christ. Number three, are you willing to act now? Hebrews 11.6 says, without faith it is impossible to please God, but he that cometh to him must believe that he is, and he is the rewarder of them who diligently seek him. Are you willing to seek him in this area of your life? Because listen, grace calls us to action. And then fourthly, How do we know we are people for his own possession? How do you know you're part of the crowd of Christ? Here's the answer. Grace, rightly perceived, compels holiness. And folks, listen, I'm gonna be honest with you this morning. If you're living a life that's not a holy life, you might not have God's grace. The Bible tells us then we become zealous for good works. Now, in my neighborhood, I live in a subdivision called Fair Oaks, all right? And there's a lot of oak trees. And mainly, not the good hard oak, but the soft oak. Pin oak is what I call them. I don't know what their real name is. But you ever notice those pin oak leaves? how long they stay on the tree. I mean, we've had some serious winds, all right, in the last couple of weeks. And you know those pin oaks across my street from me are still a lot of leaves on there? My neighbors don't do too good a job of getting their leaves up, so they blow into my yard. And I'm raking up their leaves all year long, and then in the springtime, guess what? I'm raking up those pin oak leaves again. You know why? Because those pin oaks stay on and on and on until the new growth begins to push them off. Now you say, why are you telling me that crazy story, Pastor? Because if you're in Christ, you have that new growth. And that new growth begins to change you, doesn't it? And to make you like Jesus. Do you know the Lord as your Savior? Has that grace of God truly appeared in your life? Is it teaching you, training you to deny ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-control, upright, godly lives? And are you looking for that blessed hope, the great appearing of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ? But listen. I got good news for you. If you haven't put your faith and trust in Christ, you remember what our text says? The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. You can have that Christ today if you repent of your sin and put your faith and trust in him, in him alone for eternal life. Brothers and sisters, listen, let's make the year of our Lord 2023 a year in which we get back to the basics and live for him. Now, I'm kind of one of those dreamers. And I was sitting at my desk this morning when I was praying for this message and thinking, what would it look like if 50% of our body would make this their resolution and begin to change their lives and live more like Christ. How would that affect this local New Testament church? How would it? I think God would be wanting to bless us more, wouldn't he? Father in heaven, thank you for this time together. Thank you, Father, for this short, concise, compelling picture of what it means to be a believer in Christ Jesus. Father, the Bible says if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Father, there's probably many here today that need to confess and say, Pastor, But more important, say, Lord Jesus, I've been living for worldly passions, ambitions, and other things, not what I need to be living for. Forgive me of my sin. Help me to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desire. And then, Father, if there's someone here this morning that has never truly been saved, Open their eyes to this glorious gospel and help them to see they can have real joy and real satisfaction by living and doing what you made us to do, and that's to bring glory to Christ. And that if they repent and believe and trust in Jesus, they too can have eternal life. Father, we ask this all in Jesus' name.