Father, we do pray for believers there in Ukraine. We think of these couple of churches that we have at least some awareness of, and we would ask that in your kindness you would preserve life, that you would keep these men in in work and that you would be watching over and caring for them despite the horrible conditions. And we pray, O Spirit of God, that you would be regularly helping them to cope with the difficulties that are before them. If we think of ourselves in much lesser problems, we need your help. We need you to sustain us in the midst of difficulties. How much more do they need sustaining grace? Father, we would pray that you would bless us as a congregation, We thank you for that Child Safety Committee that has been established. We thank you for the several meetings that have been held, and we pray that very soon you would help us to at least have something of a working document to have in front of us, particularly as we look forward to VBS this summer. Guide us and direct us, and we pray that your hand would be on us for great good. And we would pray that you would be with us as we have these occasional outreaches with CityGate and with Harrison House. We pray that your word would go forward in power. And Father, we pray that this evening as we come to the table of remembrance that you would draw near to us and give us help. As you very well know, we are focusing on sanctification in our studies in the morning and we've had occasion to make reference to Titus 2 on more than one occasion, and we pray that this textual and topical study working through the Lord Jesus giving himself for us We pray that you would use this study to build us up in the most holy faith. If there are areas where you, Spirit of God, are pinching us, highlighting where we need to make some change, where we need to be more deliberately presenting ourselves and our members to the God of heaven, we pray, Spirit of God, that you would bring those things to our minds this evening, and we pray that you would give us grace to pledge to walk in the ways of your kingdom as we celebrate the Lord's Supper together. Father, smile on us, give us help, we pray it in Christ's name, amen. This message from Titus 2 is adapted from a study that I did many years ago, 2004, and is adapted from a pastor friend, and it's been edifying for me to review this material and to see its relevance, particularly in light of our Lord's Day morning ministry on sanctification. What we have in Titus chapter 2 verses 1 through 10 are a series of exhortations to various individuals, and then verses 11 through 14 presents the foundation on which these exhortations are to be done. And we have in verse 11 the appearance of grace, for the grace of God has appeared Then we have in verse 12 the teaching of grace. What does it teach us? Well, it's instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. And then we have in verse 13 and 14 something of the dual focus of grace. where this grace causes us, in verse 13, to be looking forward, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. And then verse 14 gives us the backward focus, which is really, in a sense, the center of history and the center of the universe. It is the past work of the Lord Jesus, of him who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed. That which is a key phrase in Titus chapter 2 verse 14, who gave himself for us to redeem us, We find this same language in Galatians 1 and verse 3 and 4, from this present evil age. Again, Galatians 2 and verse 20. Then Ephesians 5 and verse 25 has similar language. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. And though we would normally associate the death of the Lord Jesus, the giving of himself with the work of forgiving us, the work of justifying us, in each of these passages that I've just read, the focus is more on the work of sanctification, which is fitting to have these parallel passages in mind as we come to Titus chapter 2. Roman numeral 1. Who? Who gave himself? Well, the answer is, first of all, A, our great God, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself. So who gave himself? Our great God. When we think of the Lord Jesus as our Savior, there are many ways in which he identifies with us. He took on a true human soul. He took on a true human body. And in many ways, by that identifies with us, we might be inclined to so identify with the Lord Jesus in our humanity for us to forget that he is, in the language here of Paul, our great God. It is there in John 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Colossians 1 and verse 15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, but Jesus himself is not created. He is the creator of all things. All things were created through him and for him. And then we've got a passage like Romans 9 and verse 5, Christ came who is overall the eternally blessed God. And going way back into early church history, Chrysostom, We might call him our older brother. speaks of this phrase, the great God, speaking of Jesus as absolutely great as God, not great in comparison to anything else, but he is our absolutely great God. And then Jerome commenting on the Jesus Christ as Savior, This One who is the absolutely great God is as well our Savior. That leads us to be our Savior, Jesus Christ. Who is it? Our great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. You will call his name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. And when he had purged, when he had by himself purged our sins, taken them away, he sat down at the right hand of majesty on high. Matthew 1 and then Hebrews 1 and verse 3. Who? Who is it that gave Himself? It is our great God, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Secondly, what? To what did our great God and Savior give Himself? Well, he gave himself to death, but there are other things that are involved in that process. There are complex of activities, and we want to notice quickly four things that Jesus gave himself to. First of all, A, he gave himself to the humiliation of the incarnation. the humiliation of the incarnation. Let this mind be in you, Philippians 2.5, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. and being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death." So think of it. This great God, this one who is absolutely great because he is God, equality with God was his, he gave himself to the humiliation of the incarnation. And I don't know that we can really do it, but it may be helpful for us to try and imagine what this was like for the Lord Jesus. receiving all of the glory and all of the worship of heaven, and he is going to put himself where he is in no reputation, where he is looked upon as a mere man, and most of humanity views him merely as this. He is the one who would have left the realm of where all of the angels knew exactly who he was, and they were worshiping him as the God of all creation, and yet they saw him as our great God, the God of creation, going and coming into the womb of the Virgin Mary. They would have seen him ridiculed and argued with here on the earth. It must have been a tremendous contrast for them to observe the great God of heaven giving himself to the humiliation of the incarnation. Secondly, what did he give himself to? He gave himself to the sorrows of life in this sinful world. Sorrows of life in this sinful world. The Lord Jesus has fully identified himself with this sin-cursed world. There is no sorrow that you face that you can say, well, fundamentally and in principle, Jesus knows nothing of this sorrow. Isaiah 53 will accept the reality of personal sin. And this does not refer to just the last hours of our Lord's earthly ministry, but during His whole time here on earth. He experienced sorrow of living in a sin-cursed world. He experienced the sorrow of being under Satan's attack. He experienced the sorrow of being misunderstood. He experienced the sorrow of being rejected by family and by kinsmen. And he learned obedience through all these things that he suffered. Thirdly, see, what did he give himself to? He gave himself to the shame and agony of the cross. The shame and agony of the cross. Thousands were killed by the Romans by means of crucifixion. So the suffering of the Lord Jesus on that cross was not absolutely unique to Him. But what was absolutely unique to him was the shame of being the sin bearer on that Roman cross. God imputed to Jesus our sins there on the cross. Second Corinthians 5.21, for he, the father, made him the son who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him." Hebrews 9, 28. So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. And when you think of bearing up under something, you think of a burden that is loaded on an individual. And certainly this was a burden, a weight that was put on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father imposed those sins onto Jesus, but Jesus' disposition was, Father, go ahead, I am willing to do this. Though there was a revulsion at being made sin in our behalf, yet he was willing to do it. Peter 3 and verse 18, What does Isaiah have to say about this of suffering, giving himself to shame and agony on the cross. Isaiah 53 and verse 4. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows Yet we esteemed him as stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities." Again, Isaiah 53, now verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. What happened when Jesus went to the cross? Well, he gave himself to shame and agony. The sins of his people were loaded onto him. He who had never sinned once in his life became the worst sinner in all the world as the sins of his people were loaded onto him. And we hear Jesus saying in Matthew 26, 38, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death. Stay here and watch with me. And he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed, Oh my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Sometimes you can read discussions about who was responsible for the death of the Lord Jesus. And some would say, well, the Jews were responsible. But you almost have to be careful where you say that, because you're going to get someone mad at you. And then you could argue, well, it was the Romans who put the Lord Jesus to death. And then you could argue that it's, well, it's really the sins of all of his people that put the Lord Jesus to death. But there is a key way in which we need to understand that it was God who put the God-man to death. It is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who are responsible for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the Trinity was involved in orchestrating and moving towards the death of Jesus on the cross again as the central and focal point of all of history. And if we simply think that it was the Jews, and that it was, or you argue that, well, it was more the Romans than the Jews. If we merely see it on a human level, then we are missing a key part of the suffering. It was the father who laid that burden on his son. There's nothing unique in Jesus being crucified physically. But there is something tremendously unique in the Lord Jesus Christ being crucified on that Roman cross as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, and doing so as the bearer of the sins of his people. The uniqueness of Jesus' death was his bearing of sin, and that's what made his suffering to be so horrible that he was viewed by God the Father as the worst sinner who had ever lived vicariously. Fourthly, D, what did he give himself to? He gave himself to the ongoing labor of reigning and interceding. Jesus accomplished a great deal for his people while he lived here on earth. His last words involved, it is finished. The great work of redemption is accomplished. But when Jesus passed from this realm, and when the disciples saw him ascending bodily up into heaven, There was a new work that the Lord Jesus entered upon. He became that one who reigns. over the universe and that one who has mediator and redeemer intercedes for his people. He exercises power in behalf of his people. And I give them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. How can Jesus guarantee that? Well, because of what he is doing, even from heaven. He prayed in John 17 to his father, as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Jesus is not in heaven, merely receiving adulation and worship. He is receiving worship, but he is also reigning over the universe, Ephesians 1 verse 22, and he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church. Here are his people. And he's guiding things, he is reigning in the world for the good of his people. Sometimes it's hard for us to believe that, but there it is. But then in addition to his reigning, there is his interceding in behalf of his people. Hebrews 7, 25, the classic passage. Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. He prays for us. And this is how he knows they will persevere. He prays that you and I will keep repenting. He prays that you and I will keep believing. He prays that you and I will keep obeying Him. And He prays that you and I will keep embracing Him. He prays that you and I will keep coming to the Lord's Supper, examine ourselves, and when there are areas of weakness, say, Lord Jesus, this has got to go. And I pledge myself to walk in the ways of the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 4 and verse 15 fits here. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Let's not forget that text. When we're tempted that we would come to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find help. And here's our Titus 2.14, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people. Zealous for good works, Jesus is involved as intercessor in behalf of his people. Roman numeral three, how? How did Jesus Christ give Himself? Well, let me first of all state it. A, we'll state how Jesus gave Himself. By a free, self-conscious act of His will. There was an aversion. Let this cup pass from me. But there was a resolution. Nevertheless, not my will, but your will. It was free. It was not coerced. Jesus was not a victim. Jesus willingly went to the cross. It was a self-conscious act. He was fully aware of what he was doing. He was fully aware that as he went to the cross that the Father was going to gather up all of the sins of his people and loathe them on the Lord Jesus Christ. He was self-consciously aware of what that darkness at noonday would mean, the symbol of the Father's wrath, the symbol of Him undergoing the hellish wrath of God the Father. He deliberately and freely engaged in this death. Secondly, B, let's demonstrate. If I say that he freely and self-consciously went to the cross, then I better be able to follow that up with a demonstration. So, B, demonstrate how Jesus gave himself. Listen to Matthew 20, 27, the words of the Lord Jesus. and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. John 10. As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. That's verse 15. Verse 17 and 18. Maybe I'll still be reading if you quickly turn there. Therefore, my father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me. but I lay it down of myself. I have power, I have authority to lay it down, and I have power, I have authority to take it again. This command I have received from my Father." So there is the command of the Father to the man, to the mediator, Jesus Christ. But there plainly is the willingness on the part of the God-man to do the work of redemption. John 19 and verse 30, as he died, he cried out, it is finished, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. And if that's not plain enough for us, Matthew 27 and verse 50, and Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And some suggest that if Jesus hadn't willingly given himself, then it would be all for naught. That a part of the significance of his redemptive work is that Jesus says, I am willing to die in behalf of my human brothers and sisters that have been given to me. Thirdly, the state, the demonstrate, now infer how Jesus gave himself. It was important that he die self-consciously as a deliberate act of his own will. Jesus merited the Father's blessing. Hendrickson comments on this passage saying, he, Jesus, gave nothing less than himself. He gave himself, gave everything, is God as the God-man, and this for us that is in our interest and for our benefit. Contemplation on this lofty thought should result in a life to His honor. Philippians 2 tells us that because he obeyed God, God has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name. We hear Jesus in John 17 again. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. Jesus is saying, I have done my part willingly. I haven't been pushed or coerced into this and therefore Jesus expects the reward, the joy that was set before him of a redeemed people. Justification is the result of the obedience of the Lord Jesus and it's given to us by faith, we are justified by that one act of Jesus in his death on the cross. And if our Lord had been constrained, then that one act would not have been meritorious for us. Fourthly, Roman numeral four, whom? For whom did he give himself? Well, there it is in verse 14, who gave himself for us. But who's the us? Well, if we look in verse 11, we see that there are all kinds of men, all levels of men, out of which the us will come. Verse 12, the us are those who are taught by the grace of God. In verse 12, the we are those who should live soberly, righteously, and godly. They are the redeemed. In verse 13, the we who are looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God. Is every man looking for the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ? I think not. Verse 14, the us who are redeemed from every lawless deed. That's a fairly confined circle. Verse 14, the us who are purified for Christ, for His own special people. And further in verse 14, the us who are zealous for good works for the glory of Jesus Christ. A contextual, that's a contextual identification of the us. God's people. But then secondly, B, a theological description of the us. Who are they? Well, they are a sinful mass. Titus 3 in verse 3. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, he died for us. This sinful mass of humanity, his people, are taken out of that ugliness. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus." Who are the us? Well, prior to conversion, they look like just all the rest of humanity. And some of them look like the worst of humanity. And yet God redeems the us and the relevance. This is C, the relevance of the us. Even in our small assembly, as many as there are members, that's how many individual stories are represented of those for whom Christ died. sinful background in this direction or sinful background in another direction, God intruded into our sin-dominated lives and got hold of us and brought us to the foot of the cross. Listen to Romans 5 once again. For when, 5, 6, for when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Who did he die for? The ungodly. And we take hope. That's our category. That's our group. I don't feel particularly worthy to come to the Lord's table. Well, in a sense, that's good. Verse 8, but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The kind of people for whom Christ died are the ungodly. They are the sinners. And there may be things in your life that you're really ashamed of, And you're hoping that maybe you're the only one who really knows how bad you are. Well, we don't have to worry about it. Christ knows everything. And he gives himself for the ungodly, for sinners. Fifthly, so what? What practical relevance to us? Well, A, the strongest motive, the strongest motive that God gives us is his love in Christ for us. It's a tremendous motivation for us to come to the table of remembrance and say, yes, I need to turn afresh away from this turn away from presenting some member of my body, my emotions, my imagination, whatever it is, from giving that to Satan, letting him use that another week, another month, and I need to pledge to the Lord Jesus that I am going to give my whole self to the God of heaven, and I'm going to give all of the component parts. This is something of the message of Titus 2, who gave himself for us. When we understand that he was our great God, and he gave himself for us, he gave himself for the ungodly, he gave himself for the sinner, it moves us. The love of Christ constrains us. and makes us want to respond in a reciprocal love and appreciation of what our Savior has done. Secondly, B, this motive of Christ's love requires reflection. It requires, this motive of Christ's love requires reflection. The love of Christ will benefit you and me only as we think on it. Well, I mean, there's a sense it has accomplished that definitive work, but as a motive. It only works for me as a motive to the degree that I bring the love of Christ and say, all right, here's my great God. And he gave himself in the incarnation. He was willing to come and embrace that shame as sin bearer, on the Roman cross, so these acts of the Lord Jesus Christ need to be contemplated, they need to be put in front of our minds. And it's not just the gory nature of his physical suffering, it's not just that he had the crown of thorns, the back ripped open and the shoulders, but it is that we think of Him there as sin bearer. We are urged to reflect on this, aren't we, in the Lord's Supper. Do this in remembrance of me, in remembrance of me. we eat the bread, we drink the cup, we remind ourselves that scarcely for a righteous man will someone, are you willing to give your life for someone? Well, maybe if I'm dying of cancer and he's really a worthy individual. but Jesus Christ gave himself for those who are ungodly. Thirdly, C, the key to our pardon, our growth, and our stability is the finished work of Jesus. Several words there, I'll give it again. The key to our pardon, this is C, our growth, and our stability is the finished work of Christ. Paul writes, of what we are supposed to do. Verses one through 10, these various categories of believers, but then in verse 11, the bedrock of why we ought to do those things, because Jesus gave himself for us. If you're not a Christian, then you need to be. You're never going to make your life and yourself to be clean and pure. You need a Savior who is capable of purifying your record and of purifying your heart. And Jesus Christ is the unique one in all the world. He is our great God. He is our Savior. Come to Him. Own your sin. and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's pray. Father, we thank you for the peace and calm that is afforded to us by our circumstances. We thank you for the opportunity to come to meet together in this appointed time among your people in your house on your day for us to reflect on who you are, Lord Jesus, and what you have done for us. We thank you that you have given yourself for us for our sins. We're grateful that you are the one who loved us and gave yourself for us. We thank you that you have loved the church and have given yourself for us. And we would pray that you would help us to rightly value the Lord's Supper, that we would see that this is a time when we acknowledge, we look at our lives and we acknowledge our faults, We don't run away if we find sin in our lives, but even if as believers we find sin because of our self-examination, we need to run to the Lord's Supper. It is a sinner's ordinance. We repent afresh. We ask that you will give us fresh measures of grace. And we pledge that we will walk in the ways of your covenant. We make solemn vows to walk in a way that is pleasing to you, our Lord Jesus Christ. And our Father, we would ask that for those who are not believers, that you would cause them to know this, that it is only through the Lord Jesus who gave himself for us, who gave himself for his people, that there is forgiveness, that there is any hope of renovation of character. And we pray that you would grant that they would run to your son, owning their sin and finding fresh forgiveness through him. Father, we pray that you would make this Lord's Supper to be a meaningful ordinance to us, draw near to us, and bless us. We ask these things in Christ's name.