The word courtesy here is the Greek word praates. It's usually translated as either gentleness, humility, or meekness. I usually read from the New King James and it says, showing all humility to all men. All right, it's a great blessing for me and my wife to be with y'all this morning. Yeah, it was a great time last time, too. I want y'all to know it's a great blessing in the church down in San Antonio. Praise for y'all often. I was really happy to see that we sang that version of that song with the verses by John Piper. Yeah, I heard that a couple years ago for the first time, and I was like, wow, we need to sing that. What amazing truths, right? Well, let's start by praying and asking that God would bless our time this morning together. Our Father and our God, I thank you so much for those truths that we just sang. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord. Lord, what you've done for us. Lord, we were so blind and unfeeling. We could not love you. And in your great mercy, Lord, look at what you've done to us. We found our treasure in you, and that's a work of you we just praise you for. Father, I thank you for the exhortation our brother Jason shared with the kids, Lord. Just that reminder is such an encouragement to my soul, what Christ has done, Lord, as our representative, as our head. Lord, that we can be found as having a righteousness not our own because of what Christ has done. I thank you, and I pray that you would make that a reality more known to us, Lord. Would you open the children's mind to comprehend that, Lord, to see Christ for who He is? Would you make them lovers of you and of your word? Father, I also do thank you for the provision you've showed Jason's father, allowing him to go evangelize at the Super Bowl. I pray that you would bless those tracks that go out and that you'd save people, Lord. Use your gospel to save sinners who are not looking for you right now. They're looking for entertainment in this world. Lord, I pray that you would just send revival in this country, Lord. Father, I just pray for this time of reading your word together, Lord. I feel weak and inadequate in myself. I need you to help. Keep me from speaking anything that would be error. Lord, help me to help my brethren here, Lord. We wanna hear a message from you. The last thing this church needs is to hear Ryan's opinions on things. So help me now, I pray, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, As I was thinking about what to preach on, I was searching the scriptures, thinking what would be helpful. And I remembered a few months ago at our home church, GCC, one of our pastors was doing the morning announcements, Pastor James, and something happened with a man in the congregation. And James kind of offhand quoted a verse and then kind of made the remark, hey, someone should teach on that sometime. And then he went on not thinking about it, but that kind of sparked a thought in my head as to maybe I should teach on that sometime. And it's actually been a place in the scriptures that I've often found myself going to and drawing encouragement from. It's one of my favorite, I think underrated places in the scriptures. And that place is Paul's letter to Titus. So go ahead and you're turning your Bibles to Titus chapter three. It's right before Philemon, which is right before Hebrews. And the verses we're gonna be focusing on is chapter three, verses one through seven. So let's read it in its entirety. Paul writing to Titus, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Amen. Amen. There's a lot that could be said in those seven verses right there. The entire letter of Titus is really packed full of deep theology and application. And I do love the letter of Titus. And I've even thought if the Lord allows it, one day perhaps This is just a thought. Perhaps I would like to preach through the book of Titus, verse by verse. But there's so much in here for us. And, you know, The verses I just read mention the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. It mentions justification. And I think someone could easily come along and do a topical sermon doing a deep dive into those doctrines, regeneration and justification, because they're both mentioned here. But I'm gonna take the approach of assuming that this church already has a sound understanding of those doctrines. And so, I would rather do more of a 10,000 foot flyover view of the book of Titus and see how these seven verses fit in. And so, for the sake of context, real quick, I want to summarize what's going on in this letter. Paul is writing to a young man named Titus, hence the name. and Titus was a part of Paul's missionary team. He was a co-laborer, and he was likely converted under one of Paul's early missionary journeys. And as far as the timing of this letter, when we ask, when did Paul write the letter of Titus? There's been some debate over the setting of the letter, but I am personally of the persuasion that The Book of Titus, along with 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, known as the Pastoral Epistles, take place sometime after Acts, Chapter 28. In other words, I am of the mindset that Paul actually was freed from his Roman imprisonment, his house arrest in Rome. And at a later time, he took a trip to Crete with Titus, apparently. And some commentators have called that his fourth missionary journey. And there's reasons for that interpretation. And maybe if y'all got differences, I'd like to talk about it after the service today. But evidently, Paul brought Titus with him to the island of Crete to plant churches in all the towns there. And we see in verse 5 that he later on left Titus in Crete to continue the work to put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town. So something else about Titus that is interesting that we learn is that in the book of Galatians, we learn that he himself was a Greek. Which actually makes verse four even that more amazing. He says to Titus, my true child in a common faith. You know, we can say like, he can say that to Timothy. Timothy's Jewish, right? But Titus is full Greek. And so for Paul, the apostle, to come along to a Greek Titus and say, you are my true child in the common faith. There's truly no distinction between Jew and Greek in Christ. But what's interesting with Titus is he is a Greek, and Crete is one of the major islands of Greece. So this is his home people. This makes Titus a perfect candidate for Paul to bring along with him on this missionary journey. He likely would have had a similar burden that Paul had. You know, when Paul had a great burden to see his kinsmen according to the flesh saved, I could imagine that Titus would feel a similar way about the Greeks. Titus was also a perfect candidate to come along with them because he was acutely aware of the main doctrinal issues that posed a risk to the churches of that day. One of the main threats to the churches was the influence of the Judaizers. They were the people who were teaching that in order to be a Christian, a Gentile had to become as a Jew, essentially. They were pushing circumcision onto the churches of Galatia. And it became such an issue that it was causing division in the church. And Paul writes in Galatians chapter 2, And then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and he mentions this detail, taking Titus along with me. And I went up because of a revelation and set before them, though privately, before those who seemed influential, the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. And I think that is referring to Acts 11, prior to the Jerusalem council, where they discussed this issue of circumcision. And I think when he says, I went up because of a revelation, he's referring to the revelation in Acts 11, where the prophet Agabus came and predicted there was going to be a great famine. And so the church in Antioch determined to send relief to the church up in Jerusalem. by the hands of Paul and Barnabas. And in Galatians, he mentions the detail that he took Titus along with him. So, sending relief was not the only thing Paul had in mind. He thought this would be the perfect time to bring Titus along as a case study to squash this doctrinal issue of circumcision. And in verse 4 of Galatians 2, he says, yet because of, oh, verse 3, he says, but even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Titus was very familiar with the debate, the doctrinal issues that posed a risk to the churches. He was at the center of the controversy. And he himself heard from the apostles that, no, you don't need to become as a Jew or something like that. And that would be important for even the island of Crete. because there seemed to be a risk there. I mean, notice that in verse 10, Paul is saying, verse 10 of chapter one, Paul is telling Titus, for there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers. And notice this, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced. And then later on, he's talking in verse 14, teaches them to not devote themselves to Jewish myths and the commandments of people who turn away from the truth. So this even seemed to be a risk to the churches of Crete. So this, for these reasons, it makes sense why Paul brought Titus along to Crete. And so. Paul is writing Titus and he covers a lot of ground in this whole letter. There's a lot of doctrine early on. There's even in the opening he talks about He talks about the timelessness of God in his being. He talks about how Titus is a true child in his common faith. He talks about church eldership and the qualities, qualifications of that of elder. He talks about the handling of false teachers. Then he talks about how all church members are to behave in the church, or in just practical instruction on the Christian life in chapter 2. Older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and bond servants. And that brings us to the verses that we read, verses 1 through 7 of chapter 3. One of the great themes of the book of Titus is Paul has a burden to see these Christians have a solid doctrinal understanding of God and his gospel, but not only that, to have a life, a walk that matches that. That's probably the theme of the book. I mean, you see it there in chapter 3, verse 8. He says, the saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. You see, there's two errors that people can fall into. They can say, I have the kind of faith that perhaps passes an orthodoxy test on paper, but their lives don't match that. If you examine their lives, there's no fruit at all. There's no distinction between them and the lost person. That's a great error, and that's a danger for especially intellectual circles, Reformed circles. God spare us from that kind of religion. There's an opposite error that's more prevalent in maybe the broader evangelical world outside of Reformed circles that says, you know, just give me some practical instructions, some superficial morality to follow, a list of rules. And that is also a mistake. And I don't know if you want to call it weak-mindedness or maybe just a lack of attention to God's Word, but people who often think that way, it shows in their lives. Bad doctrine produces bad fruit. See, the reality is we want both good doctrine and a good understanding, which leads to a life that is well-pleasing to God, our sanctification. And so, the title of my sermon today is, A Reminder to Gospel-Fueled Living. Because that's what we have in these seven verses. It is a reminder. Paul is towards the end of the letter, entering into chapter three. He's almost finished, and he kind of interjects this thought in these seven verses before he finishes, though. Notice what he just finished saying at the end of chapter 2 could have flowed seamlessly into verse 8 of chapter 3 when he was saying, 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, to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, who are zealous for good works. Declare these things. Exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. And then, if you go to verse 8, the saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. It's the same thought. He's going back to it. It would have been a seamless transition in thought. But these seven verses almost come at us like an interjection. It's like, before I wrap up, Titus, I want to remind you of something. I want to give you this command to remind them. Whoops. So Paul starts off saying, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authority. Okay, remind them. Who's the them? Well, clearly it's the people who he was just mentioning in chapter two. The older men, the older women, the children, younger men and bond servants, the people in the churches who Titus is laboring among. Now, you could even extend them back into chapter one, the elders he's appointing. So, them are Christians. It's not the lost person out on the island of Crete. It's Christians in the churches that you're laboring among, Titus, and all Christians. So, this is a reminder for all Christians, and there's an implication for a reminder. He says, remind them. And what's the implication? If you don't remind them to do this, they're going to forget. Here's the thing about reminders. You don't need them, if you're not liable, to forget them. For example, I'm not likely to forget to breathe. It could happen. It could happen if I'm sitting there and I'm really nervous about coming up. And Franny could say, remember to breathe. You know, that could happen. But generally speaking, in my day-to-day life, I don't need to set a reminder on my phone at nine o'clock, you gotta breathe. We just don't do that. It just comes naturally to us. But on the other hand, we do need reminders for things we are likely to forget. So if my wife were to ask me to take the sheets off the bed before I go to downtown evangelism on Friday night, I might need to set myself a reminder. And that is a purely hypothetical scenario because I'm likely to forget it, you know. And so, the fact that Paul is including this reminder presupposes that, you know, without it, they would forget. And so, it is important. And this was written for our sakes, too. The Holy Spirit thought it was necessary to interject this reminder here for us, because without it, you and I are likely to forget something. So, what is that thing that we are likely to forget? What do we need a reminder for? And I would actually like to propose that there are three reminders in our text today. And those are kind of my points. Three points. Or you could say it's all just one reminder with two supporting reminders. I just added them up and got three. But the first one is found in verses one and two, and I would call that the reminder of how we are to live. I'll read it. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. Now one thing about these two verses that I could see potentially happening is I feel like someone could come along and use that to be submissive to rulers and authorities. In a similar way, people use Romans 13 during the whole COVID shutdown when they were forbidding people to meet in churches, which was actually a misuse of that text. And if someone came along and did that here, it'd be a misuse of that text. That would be an unbalanced view of the Christian's role in relationship to the state. So, obviously, the state does not have authority over the church to tell it what to do and how it is to operate. But Christ does. All authority has been given to Him. I preached on that text last time I was here. So if a law were to hypothetically come along telling you to sin, or to stop meeting together, we would have the right to disregard that law and follow Christ instead. So the Christian's, the church's relationship with the state, it's not God, and then the state, and then the church. And it's not God, the church, and the state. It's really, all authority's been given to Christ. And there are two institutions which Christ has ordained. It's the church and the state, and they're coordinate. And so, when the state comes along, forbidding us to meet or to sin, we follow Christ instead, and that's being obedient to our highest authority. But then what does this text mean? Obviously it has to mean something. It's coming along to the individual and saying, as a general rule, a principle, is that we are to be submissive to rulers and authorities. It's pretty simple, that as a general pattern in our life, we as Christians should not have a reputation as being rebellious. We should not be anarchists. We're not calling for, you know, the coup of the government or anything. We want to honor those in authority. We want to pray for them. I think of some examples. It was Christ Jesus, right? I mean, he said it. He said, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. I mean, he taught us to pay taxes. That's a pretty mundane instruction, but that is pleasing to God. Another example I think of is when the apostle Paul was making a defense of himself before King Agrippa and the governor Festus, the Roman governor Festus. And when he was making his defense, Festus interrupts him with a loud voice. He says, you're out of your mind, Paul, you're crazy. And how did Paul respond to him? He actually used the honorific title and said, I'm not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. So he did not retort back and say, no, you're out of your mind. He honored him. He was very respectful. And Paul goes on to tell Timothy, first of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings, and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. And so, we are to be respectful and obedient to those in authority. We're to be law-abiding citizens, generally. insofar as the state is exercising a legitimate authority, it's been given by God. But yeah, there's some application there for us in this upcoming election year, right? As Christians, it's hard to navigate that. I'm challenged by that statement from Paul, to pray for those in those positions. May God forgive us in the ways we've failed to do that. But moving on, he says, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, and to be gentle. And then the last part in verse 2, showing perfect courtesy toward all people. And really, that right there is the summary of this first reminder. The word courtesy here is the Greek word praates, and it's usually translated as either gentleness, humility, or meekness. I usually read from the New King James and it says, showing all humility to all men. The ESV is one of the few translations that translates it courtesy, but that gets the idea across too, and it really is a summary. It wraps up what he's just been saying. It includes all the instructions here because if someone is showing perfect or complete courtesy to all people, then you know what's going to be true of them. They're going to be ready for every good work. And they're not going to be speaking of evil of anyone. They're not going to be quarreling. And they're going to be gentle. And so, it kind of fulfills all that he said before it. So, he's saying, be courteous to others. I mean, that's a simple command. But here's a question for you. we really likely to forget that? I mean, do we need a reminder for that? Aren't all those things the quote-unquote Christian thing to do? Like, even the lost, you know, when they see a professing Christian do something wrong or sin, whether they're genuine or not, they might say, that wasn't very Christian of them, right? See, everyone knows that that's how a Christian ought to be. A Christian knows that that's the Christian thing to do is be courteous. So, why do we need a reminder of that? And I think the answer is found in this emphasis of toward all people. The word all there is really emphasizing the fact that there's difficult people included in it. You know, it's easy to be courteous towards people who are courteous towards us. It's easy to love those who love us. Christ said, it's like even the Gentiles greet those who give them a greeting. Tax collectors know, love their own people. But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you, right? So, that is a lot harder to do. It's one thing to know that intellectually, but But to show courtesy, perfect courtesy, toward people you find in your life to be difficult, that's another thing. That's hard, experientially. And God sovereignly brings those people along in your life. I mean, you probably can think of one person right now in your mind who, for some reason, it's just so hard to want to love them, to do good to them, to bless them. Maybe it's a coworker, a neighbor, maybe even someone in your family. It's like it seems that they've been placed in your life just to get under your skin and irk you. And he's saying, be courteous to them. Love them. Do good unto them. And it's like, yes, I want that. I want to do that. You know, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, right? The will to do good is in me, but the strength to do it, I don't find. So, what's needed is a reminder, right? And so, if we remember a couple things, it will fuel that kind of living. That brings me to my second reminder here, and it's actually found in verse 3. This is the second reminder. So stop right there. That gives context to the word all. We know we're talking about people who are foolish, disobedient, people who are led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, because he's bringing ourselves in as an example of that all. We also were once that same way. So how can we live that kind of life? being courteous to people who are difficult. And he starts off with this word for, which is a conjunction. It connects this to the previous verses. He's calling them to live this certain kind of life on the basis of something, of a certain reality. And the reason, or if you will, a reminder for a certain truth. This is squeaky. The reason or the basis for the command to be submissive and do all those things is for we ourselves are also that way. And I think it's a humbling reminder that if we truly grasped, it would give us the fuel we need to live that kind of life. You think of that person who's sinned against you, and maybe it's a legitimate sin. They've wronged you, and it's so hard to get over it. And I've actually heard people say, I could never forgive that person. Or, you know, the damage is done, I'm unforgiving. as a Christian should never speak that way. Because we need to realize this, that your own sin, in the eyes of God, is 10,000 times more offensive and ugly than that person's sin is to you. So, a good dose of our own depravity from which we came will help us to love others in that same position. We were once there. We were no better than they. What does Ephesians 2 say? It says, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work, and the sons of disobedience, among whom we all lived. in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. And we're by nature, listen to this, we were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. That was our state. That was the stock from which we came. That is how we were when God found us. We were no better than the worst sinner out there. The only thing we had claim to was damnation. The only thing we deserved from God was hell. The thing is, we can forget that sometimes. When you become a Christian, when you were converted, when God came to you and saved you, the first thing you felt was a sense of your own guilt, the guilt of your sin. And then He showed you Christ. But then it's like, Okay, years go by and now you tend to forget that feeling of your sinfulness. I'm dignified now. I'm wearing a button-up shirt. And we kind of forget from where we came, the depravity. And so it's helpful to be reminded of how we once were. So that is the second reminder, is the reminder of our depravity from which we came. But that's not, we don't stop there, because that would just be depressing. The third reminder is the rest of this section, verses four through seven. This is the third reminder. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So this reminder, this section, is kind of like the other one. It starts with a but, which is a conjunction, which is connecting it to all that's gone before it. But it's indicating that there's a contrast. There's a change of direction here. And it's this, while this was true, I'm changing direction and God's done something. And what it is, is while it was true that we were dead in our sin, we were once ourselves just like that, God saved us. not because of any work we've done in righteousness. We didn't take the proper steps forward in elevating ourselves above the next sinner. There was no good in us that he saw, but it was simply according to his own mercy. So this third reminder for us is, I'll call it, the reminder of God's grace in our lives. What all graces has he shown us here in this text? Let me ask you this. It says, when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us. Let me ask you, when did the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appear? Was it 2,000 years ago when Jesus came? Is that what that text is referring to? And then it says, he saved us, as if the he is referring to the loving-kindness, as if Jesus is the embodiment of the goodness and loving-kindness of Jesus. That's a possible interpretation. I don't think that's likely, though. I think that this is referring to when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared to us to be that way at the moment in which we were enlightened, when He opened our hearts to see Him for who He is, when it appeared that way to our eyes, He saved us. Because it was at that time, it says, He saved us. not because of works done in righteousness, but so you have the motive there, according to His own mercy, and by what mechanism? It says, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. So right there, we can see that the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit came to us before we even believed on Him. That's known as In the doctrines of grace, we believe regeneration comes before faith in Christ, logically. And I think that's evident. You can see that here in this text. It was by the washing of regeneration, the cleansing effect regeneration has, and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. That's the shorthand form of the new birth, right there. When we were born again, it was by the new birth that he saved us, right? Also, we can see that the Holy Spirit, whom he rich, he poured out on us richly. Do you realize all that God has blessed us with, he's given us the Holy Spirit richly. I think of me and Franny's time, when the Lord first saved us, we were kind of brought into some Pentecostal circles. And I think there's a misguided notion in those circles that you have the Spirit, but not too much. You need a second experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then you richly get the Holy Spirit. But this text seems to indicate that the opposite is true. It's the renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom you poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, So that being justified, so this happened at the time we believed in that we were justified, we were richly poured out the Holy Spirit was given to us. So that being justified by His grace. Justification here is that gift, that grace where God declares us righteous in His eyes. even though we have no righteousness of our own. It's been given to us through Christ. It's external to us. It's been given to us as a gift. So we have a perfect standing with God. He doesn't count our sins against us anymore. We're not His enemies. We're His friends. He loves us. And it says that we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. We as Christians don't have to live in fear of what's to come anymore. We can know that God cares for us, that we're in a right relationship with Him, that He loves us. in that we've got the hope of eternal life after this. That's why, for the Christian, for the Christian, that the second coming of Christ should not cause us to shrink back and hide under the rocks like the lost. What does it say earlier in our text? It says, are waiting for, our blessed hope, that's what it's referred to. The appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us. So, for the Christian, we've become, by all this, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. When we rightly understand that, we can't help but saying, come Lord Jesus, It's like John in the book of Revelation. Even so, come, Lord, come quickly. We look forward to that day. And so just to kind of summarize what we said, Paul is telling Titus to remind them to be, to this way of living. And he doesn't stop there, because if you just stop after verses one and two, you get moralism, just do this, rule-based Christianity. But he provides two realities that were true about us. The first was the reminder of, well, the depravity from which we came. We were the same way. We were difficult. We were led astray. We were slaves to various passions and pleasures. But while that was true of us, God intervened and he showed great mercy on us. He washed us with the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. He gave us the Spirit richly through Jesus Christ, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father, so that, being declared righteous in His sight, justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. We've got an eternal hope awaiting for us. We're the most blessed people on the face of the planet. And so when we truly realize and more fully understand those two reminders, it will fuel the kind of living he's calling us to here, that difficult reminder to live that kind of way. That's why the title of my sermon is Gospel Fueled Living. And so, maybe just to wrap up and apply it, maybe for some application. I just think that there's people in our lives who need to be shown the love of God. We need to be courteous to them, and God places people in our lives who are difficult to do that to. And if we are in the flesh, if we're acting out in the flesh, will fail. Who can live that kind of life? How can you without the grace of God? But someone who's just taken up with the realities of the gospel, they have a true apprehension of how sinful they were, and they have a higher view of how much grace God has shown them, it will enable that kind of living. And as an example, I'm reminded of the story of a woman named Sabina Wurmbrand. She was a Christian with a Jewish background in, was it Romania, during the time of World War II. And her family was put in a concentration camp and murdered. And anyways, later on, her husband, Richard Wurmbrand, found the man who he believed was probably responsible for the murder of her family. He was the most rebellious guy in the town. He was a known Nazi, and he was boasting about his time at that concentration camp and how he killed Jews. where her family died. And he found him and brought him to his house. And he woke up his wife, Sabina, in the middle of the night and said, honey, I think I may have found the man who killed your family. And he's standing out in the living room. And how would you react in that moment? She got up and walked out and she slapped him across the face. And no, that's not true. I'm joking. She went out into that living room and embraced him and gave him a hug. kissed him on the cheek and said, let me make you a meal. And the guy broke down crying and said, how can this be? There was a sense of guilt for the things he'd done. He'd been suppressing it with alcohol. And when she did that, he broke down. How can you treat me that way? And she said, the gospel is all about forgiveness. And she realized that she had been forgiven so much. She had a sense of sin, the sinful background from which she was saved out of, and she had a higher view of the grace God showed her. And that fueled the kind of living we're called to here, perfect courtesy toward all people. She was able to do something that is, in and of ourselves, impossible to do. And the guy, the Nazi guy, his life was, indicated by the documentary, his life was transformed. He was not the same man after that. Whether God saved him or not, he knows. But that's the kind of life we're called to live, brethren. And that's the only way we can live it, by realizing those two realities. the depravity from which we came, and the grace God has shown us in the midst of that. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this gift of grace, the sending forth of your Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save guilty sinners, Lord, which we were. Lord, we look at our lives and We're able to say we were no better than the most difficult of cases, Lord. We were enemies of you. We were living our lives in malice and envy. Oh, Lord, thank you for the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Thank You that You've justified us by Your grace. We've been declared righteous in Your sight. You haven't dealt with us according to our iniquities. You've given us a hope, an inheritance, an eternal life, Lord, and help us to walk in a way that's reflective of that. Help us to walk in a way that's well-pleasing to You. Lord, help us to show forth what you've done in our lives by showing this kind of love and courtesy towards others, Lord. Make us instruments in your hands. Amen.