Welcome to the Wilton Baptist Church where we worship God walk with others and win people to the Lord Jesus Christ I'm pastor Steve and our congregation is pleased to share this message with you today And we pray it'll be a blessing and encouragement to you blessings as you listen or watch Titus chapter 1 After George Bailey, played by James Stewart, wishes he had never been born, an angel, who was played by Henry Travers, is sent to Earth to make George's wish come true. And this is a very compelling film, a very A classic film, maybe you've watched this before. Friday night, we had a film night at the church in our backyard. You can still see the screens down. We had some folks come out and enjoy that. Had a kind of similar take, like what if your life was different? What if one thing was different? And George Bailey was posed with a similar question. He starts to realize how many lives he has changed and impacted and how they would have been different if he had never been there. This is 1946. It's a wonderful life. Later on, George sees how wonderful of a life that he really had. Even though his uncle had lost all of the family business money, he had health, he had hearing in one ear, he had a lovely wife, beautiful kids, and an entire community surrounding him who loved him and cheered him on in life. And he discovered his life was good after all. has there been times when you've been kind of uh... discouraged or disappointed and maybe times where you have lamented all life is tough this is difficult of course has been times like that sometimes we lament the christian life even in kind of have uh... troubles that arise are difficult circumstances that kind of surround us and sometimes we could be discouraged but when you look at the christian life It's a good life. It's a wonderful life after all. 11 times in 10 verses the Apostle Paul uses the word good when he's discussing the Christian life with Titus I'll give you each of these in a quick run-through Love what is good in men and about those that you know in the in chapter 1 verse 8 some people will be reprobate and deny good works that's in verse 16 Older women should teach younger women good things. That's in chapter 2 verse 3. Ladies are to be good when it comes to generosity in chapter 2 verse 5. Young men are to establish good habits or patterns of work is what he's talking about in chapter 2 verse 7. Workers and laborers should have good fidelity or faithfulness in their vocation and calling. God's people should be zealous of good works in chapter 2 verse 14. Concerning leadership, government officials even, we are to do good towards them in chapter 3 verse 1. Christians are to practice good works because it is good. That word good is used twice in chapter three, verse eight. We're to do good towards others and good works towards them. And then the 10th verse is, in chapter three, verse 14, all of us should learn early on in life to maintain good works. And that's exactly what it says. Maintain and care for doing works. Titus is a marvelous book. It's one that over the last 15 years we've not preached through. Maybe we've touched on at times throughout the course of study. This is a letter from the aging Apostle Paul to a young and faithful Christian and he's a Christian leader in the church and he's called Titus. Titus was serving the Lord in ministry. Now if you lived In ancient Rome, back in that era, chances are you would know somebody named Titus. It was a popular name. In fact, some of the emperors were named Titus, and it was a popular boy's name. It's derived from the Latin titulus, which means the title of honor. titus was fully gentile with greek-speaking parents and his conversion to christianity it's not described in the bible we don't know when it took place but paul does mention him on several occasions but he's not mentioned in the book of acts as paul was traveling around but uh... timothy is someone that paul calls his son in the faith so somewhere on one of those missionary journeys Titus hears Paul preaching and teaching the gospel, and he responds to that message, and he believes in Jesus, and he feels compelled and called into gospel, vocational gospel ministry, and he starts to help Paul out in the ministry. Now, this book has several key passages. Some of these verses, as I read them, and as you see them on the screen, you'll say, I've heard that before, or I'm familiar with this concept. There's several verses. I'll just give you a few highlights of this short three-chapter book. In Titus 1, verse 15, and to the pure, all things are pure. But unto them that are defiled and unbelieving, there is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled." We'll unpack that at some point, but this helps you understand the psychology of a man or a woman and how they are perceiving things. It's a fascinating verse that we'll look at. In Titus 2, verses 11 and 12, For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live godly and soberly in this present world. Or righteously, soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. I was trying to say that from memory. And what a fabulous verse. We'll look at that when we get there. Titus 3 verse 5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy. He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. So there's some great doctrine, some great practical teaching. There's some good things that Paul tells Timothy, and that Paul tells the church, and that the Lord tells us today. And so I'd like to bring this message series called The Good Life because God had a message for Paul, God had a message for Titus, God had a message for the church back then, and Titus was pastoring the church on the island of Crete. And God has a message for us today. And today's message, we'll call this good preaching. Good preaching. So here's some historical background of the book. Paul was released from his house arrest in Rome, and that's where we find him at the end of the book of Acts. Probably because his accusers indicates there his accusers did not press charges They didn't travel all the way there to accuse him before Caesar and so their case was lost by default and Paul was freed Paul visits Ephesus and he leaves Timothy there to supervise the churches in Ephesus and then he goes on to Macedonia which is in in Greece northern Greece and From there, he writes 1 Timothy, and then he visits an island named Crete. And maybe this is where Titus is from. We don't know where he comes from. I believe maybe he comes from somewhere else. But he's on the island of Crete, and he leaves Titus there. So he has a short time where he mentors him. That's why I believe he came from somewhere else. But he mentors him, he teaches him, and then he leaves him there to supervise the church at Crete, to be the pastor there on the island of Crete. And that's in the Mediterranean there. You maybe read about it in history. I mean, they had running water in Crete back 2,000 years ago. It's a fascinating study just when it comes to history and archaeology. Paul goes on to either Macedonia or Nicopolis, and he writes this letter then to encourage Titus. So he leaves Titus there, he goes on to another region, and then he sends a letter back. Titus, here's some things that you need to know about the ministry, about life, about Christianity, and you need to know it and share these truths with the church as well. Paul goes on to visit Troas and he's suddenly arrested there, taken back to Rome, and eventually there he is persecuted and executed. And you can find out more about that in 2 Timothy a little bit. Paul was commissioned to further the faith of God's people so that they might acquire knowledge of Christian truth. And that's exactly what we find. So here's the opening verses of the book of Titus. We'll read verses one through four. paul a servant of god and an apostle of jesus christ and so he's a servant in an apostle according to the faith of god's elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness in hope of eternal life which god that cannot lie promised before the world began so God cannot lie. There's some theological truth even in the opening statements here, something that we know about the character of God. And sometimes you'll meet somebody that's bitter at God or angry at God, and they'll say, well, God lied to them, or I did things what I thought was the right way. Maybe they did it with the right attitude. And they'll say, well, God lied, and his word isn't true because I did it, and it didn't work. And they just have some bitterness in their heart about something, and they probably didn't follow it through exactly with the right attitude, whatever they perceived that God had told them to do in the Bible. But the truth is, God cannot lie. It's one of the immutable qualities of the Lord. So in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began, but hath in due times manifested his word through preaching. The phrase due times has to do with a time frame in history. God has manifested or revealed. So sometimes you'll hear preachers and teachers talk about dispensational theology. What they mean by that is is that God has revealed himself or communicated his message in certain ways in certain periods of history. For example, the Old Testament is a time period in history. The pre-flood, before the Noah's flood, that's a time period in history. The New Testament era, in which we're still a part of today, that would be a dispensation, a time period in history. Future things after the rapture of the church that be a dispensation or a time period in history So that's that's what he's that's what we would infer from this implication of this phrase in due time So it was at the right time and how God was going to relay his message to the world into God's people in due times God has manifested his word through preaching Karugma is a word which means proclamation. It's an announcement. It's a message that is to be declared, which is committed. Paul says, it was committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior. To Titus, my own son, after the common faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. The name Titus means title of honor, title of honor, and it indicates strength and leadership. And we find Titus, he has this agreeable nature, he has this let's get it done attitude, and he's an encouraging type. a responsible type young man Titus and so Paul writes this letter to him to his church and we benefit from it today as well the word preaching there must be good preaching in the good life. The word preaching means a proclamation. Now here, it's not a verb. Like right now, I'm preaching to you. That's verb. It's active, and it's something that's happening. But here, the word is not that. It's not a verb. It's not active. What it is is describing The message, not a method. It's describing what's being said, not what is being done. And so the ministry of preaching, the delivery of a message is what he's talking about. So it's the subject here, it's not an active verb. The proclamation or the message of the act of preaching is the revelation of God's Word. It's the revealing of, here's what God said, here is God's message. Now, not every time you listen to a preacher is true Bible preaching taking place. Not every time. Not all preaching is accurate. Not all preaching is effective. Not all preaching is authentic. Now, I didn't say the Word of God returns void, but just because someone is saying something doesn't mean that he's preaching. It's this word preaching has to do with what is being said not what is happening while he's saying it in the manner which is conducted. Harry Ironside was born in 1876 a well-known preacher and a young child a little girl accompanied her mother to a preaching service, and Dr. Ironside was there preaching. And the little girl listened with great attention. And upon leaving the church service, the child said to her mother, mother, I thought Dr. Ironside was a great preacher. Yes, darling, he is described, he is a great preacher. But why do you ask that question? She said, I understood everything that he said. And Dr. Ironside took that as a great compliment because the little child could understand everything that he said. He was an effective communicator and a good preacher. The word preaching is found 131 times in the scripture and several of those times it's a different word. which gives you a little bit more depth of understanding or definition in understanding it. Eight of the 131 verses where the word preaching is used is the one that we just read, kerugma, for preaching. And here's an example of that, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21. For after the ministry, or for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. to save them that believe. Now, 44 times of those 131 times, the word evangelism is used for the word preaching. Evangelizo is that word, and it means to announce the good news. When we talk about evangelism or evangelistic preaching, that's what word is used there. And so here's an example of that. For the preaching of the cross, is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of god so preaching is also going to be evangelistic in nature where someone is going to be invited to come to christ to respond to know christ as their savior then maybe my favorite word For this it's only used once is the word logos or logos and it embodies It means an embodiment of an idea as in a speech or a statement So when you find a word preaching in the Bible, sometimes it's active. Do you get a read it in this context? Sometimes it's like a verb where somebody's preaching he's doing something and other times It's capturing an idea Paul says Timothy the concept of salvation is found in preaching. And the understanding, the opening, the manifestation of someone revealing and understanding, then, the gospel can be found in preaching, the message that is being delivered. So from that, we can know this. The message is more important than the messenger. The text is more important than our own pretext or summations that we may bring to the text. The topic is more important than the teacher. The point of the text is more important than the preacher. So what does the Bible actually say? That's the preaching that we need to hear. The method of preaching is not as important as the message itself. Now, preaching is conveyed in different ways. Some preachers are more academic. A lot of reformed preachers are gonna be very academic in how they sound and they'll use all the big words. And it's very compelling if you're interested in education and things like that. Others are less academic and maybe they just, they convey with more stories and they convey a message and they are more relatable. And I try to be right in the middle of both of those extremes, I guess. And then you have others that are going to be loud, and they're shouting, and they're just yelling. And sometimes I'll tune in on the radio, and I'll hear a guy say some preaching. And every couple words, he's like, oh, oh. And he says, let me tell you a story about, oh. And man, I can't listen to that. Oh my goodness, I get out of breath listening to that. Maybe that's your thing. Maybe you love that. I don't know if that's cultural. It seems more performance oriented to me, but there's different ways that people will be preaching their message. Some are calm, some are loud. Some people think that if someone's shouting, they must be preaching. That's not true. They could be saying something foolish. You go to a ballgame and somebody's shouting, they're not preaching at the ballgame. That doesn't automatically mean just because they're yelling that they're preaching something. So the topic or what's being conveyed is the most important thing when it comes to the preaching. Some use a manuscript, some memorize. Sometimes I'll attempt to memorize a whole message and deliver it. Most of the time I use notes and I use an iPad with typed up notes ahead of time. That kind of prompts me and helps me with delivering a message. But a lot of old time preachers would have it all written out and they would kind of read their message in monotone. And some people even do that today. Nonconformist preacher Richard Baxter gave his ideal of preaching. He said to preach as though he'd never preach again, as a dying man to dying men. So there should be some imperative in preaching. There should be some idea that this is important and we may not have this moment again. In fact, we won't have this moment again. Everybody that's here today, maybe you'll all be back tomorrow with a handful of other people. Maybe some of us will be missing. We don't know what a day will bring forth. And so that's why it's important in this moment to convey not the preacher's thoughts or his idea or his own philosophy, but to convey the Bible truth, to convey the scripture as dying men, a dying man to dying men. So friends, good preaching is an important part of the good life. That's the point of our message today. Good preaching should be included in the Christian life. You gotta have it. Some Christians don't have good preaching in their daily or their weekly habits. They don't have good preaching in it. preaching does several things why is the preaching important an important part of the good life well first off preaching communicates the word manifest means to make visible or to make clear preaching communicates god's word it reveals it reveals it is maybe an eye opener the bible is god's revelation and preaching will describe develop and deliver manageable portions of scripture. Now, if you go to a seminary or to a Bible institute or a Bible college or something, they'll talk to you about the art of preaching, the art of preaching. Some schools may call it the science of preaching, but mostly it's considered one of the arts, the ability to communicate, to convey a structured message, to put it all together, homiletics. is what they would teach you homiletics hermeneutics is how you interpreted it but homiletics is what they're talking about but the bible is god's revelation and preaching will take a homily a homiletical approach to structure a message and then to deliver it but he's not delivering just his ideas he's to deliver god's word he's to illustrate god's word he's to give examples to kind of open the shades on the window to see what the scripture is saying and what's being described. So all good preaching, then, must require teaching. There should always be some good teaching that's part of the preaching. Preaching is more for a response, and teaching is more for an understanding. It's not good preaching if there's not teaching connected with it. Because if you don't understand what he's talking about, he could preach all that he wants. You just don't know what he's talking about. So you've got to have some good teaching as well. Here's an example. In Nehemiah, there were some priests and some people who were leaders in the local areas there in Jerusalem. Also, Joshua, Beni, Suraibiah, Jamin, Aqab, Shabathai, Hadijah, Masihah, Keleti, Azariah, Jezebel, Hanan, Peliah, and the Levites. So if you are like, man, he's butchering those names, you should try it after the service, okay? So it's fun trying to, who named these guys, right? It's the Hebrew transliterations probably. But these are Levi's these are leaders around the rebuilding of the temple time there and they caused the people to Understand the law and you find in the Old Testament the idea of laws like what books do we have the Bible? They had to pen it to Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy. That's five books of Moses. So they caused them to understand so they would read the scripture that they had, and while they were reading, by the way, the people stood in their place. So they read the book of the law of God distinctly. So they enunciated it very clearly. This is God's message for today. And then they gave the sense. What does it mean? And they caused them to understand the reading. This kind of has the idea of maybe some illustrations, some demonstrations. Some examples of, in the case of the law, what to do, what not to do, and how to live and how not to live. And so this is the manifestation of preaching. Preaching communicates God's word. The Lord tells us in Romans 10, how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? When a preacher stands before you, he delivers a Bible message. Now, these are not concepts that he has perfectly mastered. They're not. And don't think like, well, he has it all together. He doesn't. The message that he delivers are not necessarily things that he lives perfectly himself. The message is a result of prayerful and careful study of the scriptures, and this is what it says, and God helped me to live it out, this is what it means. But he's continuing to learn these things for himself. The message is a message to himself just as much as to anybody else in the service or those who may be at home watching online. The message is not something he's mastered, but something that he hopes will soon master him. And so there's no arrogance that's, there's no room for arrogance in preaching, like, hey, look at me, you know. It's not the way that I hope it would be conveyed at any point. It was at the close of the Lord's Day on a Sunday, and Harry Ironside, I used two of his illustrations, he had been busy about preaching. That day, he preached five times. He had spoken five times on the way home His wife was talking to him and asked him a simple question, and he turned her aside with irritation. He was irritable after that full day of preaching. And the Holy Spirit quickly convicted this preacher, this man of God, and contritely, he asked his wife's forgiveness and said, forgive me, I'm quite tired. Remember, I've preached five times today. Please forgive me. To which she responded, well, you preached five times, but I had to listen to you five times. Oh, I love that. Communication or manifestation takes place in several ways with preaching. The word of God is expounded upon. At the same time, the spirit of God is moving in somebody's heart. I mean, he is knitting or connecting, not just with mental assent, but with his spirit, with yours. He's connecting the scripture truth. He's enlightening the hearer. And at the same time, The Son of God is exalted. Jesus is exalted in preaching as we're listening, as the Holy Spirit is moving, and as the Bible is expounded upon. Consider these verses, Psalm 119, 18, "'Open down mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.'" It'd be a great prayer for all of us. In Psalm 19, verse 8, "'The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.'" Oh, but the Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I've said unto you. So the Holy Spirit's also connected in this preaching experience. In 2 Corinthians, for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So the Holy Spirit illumines. Now, I could try to shine a flashlight with an illustration, but it's the Holy Spirit who is teaching you, here's what it means, and here's the most and the best way that I can apply this truth. In Hebrews 1, 2, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world. So Jesus is also exalted as the message is delivered. Preaching tells us God's will for matters in life. Now there's different types of preaching. Sometimes there's topical preaching, and that's like picking a theme, like let's preach about grace today, or let's talk about forgiveness today, and then finding a lot of verses that have to do with that. Textual preaching we're kind of doing textual preaching because we took the first four verses here and have gone through it and we'll go through verse by verse. Exegetical preaching or expository preaching. And that's that's taking like the whole book and we're trying to find even one or two verses at a time and just going through and kind of taking them apart. And I'll show you an example of that in the next verse that we'll look at. In our church, we actually get all three. We get all three. It's not just one. Primarily exegetical or textual, we'll take the text. Sometimes, you know, we'll have a Father's Day message or a Mother's Day message, or here's a Valentine's love type message or something, and we'll do some occasional textual or topical messages. So we receive an assortment of that in our church. But preaching, whichever form it takes, communicates God's Number two, preaching is committed to preachers. The concept of preaching, the theme of preaching, the task of preaching, and notice what Paul tells to Titus here. He says, Paul, servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, in the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began, but has promised in due times, manifested his word through preaching, which is committed to me. He said, the idea of the message is committed to me. The activity of preaching, we also see is committed to him according to the commandment of God, our Savior. Timothy is another preacher. So you have the pastoral epistles or letters, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. The ministry people will study those passages. Paul an apostle Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ Which is our hope according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust So the message of the gospel is committed to preachers and the delivery of messages is committed to them as well So Paul was a preacher uh... servant of god he describes himself and that's the usual word in the bible for a slave paul considers himself a slave of god in this description now he was born free in the roman world a majority were slaves they were not citizens but he was born free uh... there and he was a citizen of rome and was uh... proud citizen of rome you can read about that in acts chapter twenty too and uh... he had this freedom that he could then serve the lord as he went from town to town but he he describes himself even though he was free i'm a slave to god i have devoted my life in service to the lord all service in apostleship is recognized by the elect you have the word elect there he says this is acknowledged by the church. My ministry is acknowledged by the church. So along those lines, I mean, it may kind of seem subtle to you, but what he's teaching here, what we understand is, is that he had the endorsement of other Christians with the gospel ministry. They recognized is called from God. God calls a person to ministry and the church recognizes that call. I would not follow a self-professed preacher who has no one that has endorsed his ministry. I wouldn't follow somebody like that because it has to be recognized by God's people. A self-professed preacher, it's kind of like a leader. Is a leader really a leader if no one's following? You couldn't really say that person's a leader if nobody is following the same would be true for gospel ministry a gospel preacher must be recognized as a preacher of God's Word by a body of Believers a church who know him and are willing to follow him Now Titus was also a preacher Titus was a Gentile by birth as we've already mentioned and he accompanies Paul to Jerusalem at the time of the apostolic council there in Acts chapter 15. He was Paul's emissary. He went on behalf to the church at Corinth during the third missionary journey. So he traveled around with him at some point quite a bit and then later on. Paul leaves titus on the island of crete to administrate the church there to serve the church there to communicate god's word there. So titus was the pastor on that island of crete and think about jesus in matthew 9 35 The bible talks about jesus being a preacher as well. So we have these these preachers now if a preacher is preaching If he's the one preaching, who does he listen to? Does he listen to preaching as well? Absolutely. Preachers enjoy hearing preaching as well. I like Adrian Rogers, and he's in heaven for about eight years now or so. And you can hear him at Loveworth Finding, the replays of his messages. Kurt Scully, Kerry Schmidt, Greg Laurie, David Jeremiah, these guys are all guys that are alive today that I enjoy listening to and hearing their messages from time to time. I had mentors in my life as well and I still have mentors today. I think about Jim Shatler was a mentor and Harry Stanley and Greg Mudge and Charles Holmsher. These are guys that I learned from or rubbed shoulders with and gleaned from. So preachers have preaching and listen to preaching as well. Now 2nd timothy 4 verse 12 tells us that preachers should be ready to give a message preach the word Be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke rebuke exhort or build up with all long suffering and doctrine So I was ordained to the gospel ministry over 22 years ago, and I remember about that time Everywhere natalie and I went it was just us back then everywhere that we went Um, I would go to a church service on a trip or something and the preacher would say, oh, we have a young preacher here. Can you stand up and give us a prayer? I would walk into ball games, athletic events, and the announcer would say, oh, I see Steve Harness over here. Can you come and give us a prayer to start this service? So I was always, I always had to be ready to give a prayer. I've actually walked into funerals before just to show respects and, uh, to let the family know that we're praying. And people have turned to me before and say, oh, can you say a few words? Can you give a message here today? Well, I thought you had somebody else. Oh, yeah, he's gonna preach too, but we want you to say something. Okay, so you got to be ready. You got to be ready. You never know. Most preachers I know take that readiness portion very seriously. That's what the phrase be instant, in season, out of season means. Preaching, finally then, will change people. The result of preaching is found in Paul's prayer for Timothy. This is verse four. To Titus, my own son, after the common faith. So remember preaching is the concept as he's used it, the actual gospel message, the actual delivery of the message of God. He says grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. How would he know about grace, mercy, and peace? Through the ministry of preaching. And it's the message of preaching as well. God's Word changes lives. Now, we're all in process. We're all in development. Some will be more holy than others in our lifetime. Some will practice the scripture more faithfully than others would practice the scripture. But all Christians, all Christians, have been changed in some degree. In some form or fashion, every Christian has been changed. Even if it seems like just a little bit, they've been changed. If they're really born again, they really know Jesus Christ, there's been some change because of the message of preaching. Camp Kirkland wrote in 1998 the song, God's Word Changes Lives. Those who know the Savior will gladly testify how God's word brought conviction the hour they met Christ. It may have been a still small voice, but they heard the master's call, learning in that moment when they surrendered all. God's word changes lives. Its power cannot be denied. The lost find salvation. The foolish become wise. God's word changes lives. the essence of its message. The truth has never changed. God so loved he gave his son that sinners could be saved. And whether read or preached or sung, once it has been heard, the authority of scripture will leave no heart unstirred. In Titus we find, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously, and godly. in this present world, because God's word, the preaching, changes lives. God's grace is so important, and we have grace as mentioned in this prayer in verse four. And someone illustrated grace this way. It's really an incredible thought. The difference between revenge, justice, and grace. If someone brutally murders your son, and you take things into your own hands, that's revenge. If you're content to allow the law and the courts to arrest and punish the offender, that's justice. But if you pardon the murderer and then adopt him and bring him into your home, that's grace. That's the grace that God showed to us. Because who killed Jesus on the cross? Humanity. He willingly gave his life. Who did God invite into his house in heaven? Us. That is God's grace. Mercy then, in Titus 3, 5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. One person wrote that, our faults are like a grain of sand beside the great mountain of the mercies of God. I love that picture. Every day, every day you wake up, you experience the mercy of God. We don't deserve it. We deserve a lot less than what we get. But he gives us mercy and then peace being justified by his grace We should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life the peace of knowing God and having a restful assurance of eternal life is a blessing that we receive and know because of God's Word and because of its preaching Peace, perfect peace, with sorrow surging round. On Jesus bosom, not but calm is found. Peace, perfect peace, all our future unknown. Jesus we know, he is on the throne. Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours. Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers. It is enough. Earth's struggles soon shall cease, and Jesus calls us to heaven's perfect. Peace. We're looking forward to that day for sure. So let me ask you three questions. Do you have peace in your heart? Have you trusted Christ as your savior? Do you have peace in your soul or mercy rather in your soul? Do you experience that and recognize God's mercy each day? And do you live with grace? in your life. You live with God's grace, experiencing that, basking in that, and conveying and showing that grace to others. So friends, don't wait for the preacher to start preaching. When you come to church, don't wait for the preacher to start preaching. The first sermon preached each Sunday is not by a minister, but by you. You preach a message of good cheer when you say good morning to those that you meet in the parking lot or in the hallways or in the lobby. You preach a message of welcome when you slide over in the chairs to make space for others instead of forcing them to squeeze around you or to find some other place. You preach a message of hope and joy when you sing enthusiastically during the service. You preach a message of respect when you listen attentively to presentations. You preach a message about faith when you give your tithes and your offerings. And if your message is positive, if it is consistent, then the message given from the pulpit will be a lot better received from whoever else is here for that service. So good preaching is part of the good life. Let me encourage you to include preaching in your life. Be faithful to the church gathered. Now that we're getting back into the school routine, there'll be an increase in people that are present. There'll be more consistency with people attending. Make sure you make some space for other people. Sit more up front. Help out with things like this. Be faithful to participate in the church scattered. We'll be starting that, resuming that in another month. The next three weeks, we're going to be asking you to sign up, and we'll start to organize that. But be consistent. Be faithful to these things. Avoid taking preaching. and the church life of the Wilton Baptist Church for granted. Don't take it for granted. There are churches all around America that wish they had somebody that would preach to them. There are churches all around the world that listen to a radio or they tune in even to our sermon audio. and to listen to preaching. We don't take it for granted. Don't assume these things that God has given to us will always be here. Let me ask you a few questions as we conclude, and I just encourage you about faithfulness. The first one is this, you have peace in your heart. Do you have peace in your heart today? Have you trusted Christ? If you've never believed the gospel for yourself, trust him today. Ask him to be your savior today. Let's talk following his service, if you want to know how to have salvation for yourself. Do you have mercy in your soul? I mean, do you experience that? Do you recognize it when you wake up? I don't get what I deserve. I have God's mercy. Lord, thank you for that. Just give some thanks for his mercy in your soul today. And then, are you living with grace? Do you have God's grace? Absolutely, all of us do. Do you recognize it? Do you say thank you for it? Do you convey and show that grace to other people? Take just a moment, consider these questions, and then I'll lead us in prayer. Heavenly Father, we are thankful for the ministry of preaching. We thank you for the gift of the scriptures. We thank you that your Holy Spirit enlightens and opens our eyes to understand your word. We thank you for gospel ministers in our lives today and in our history and our past and future, ones that will come along that share God's truth, that preach the Bible, Maybe they use different methods or sound differently or come across in different ways, but we thank you that they are delivering your word, taking the truth and giving it to our ears so that we can have it in our hearts. We don't take that for granted. We thank you for that. Lord, we pray for peace in the heart of everyone here today. As a result of preaching, as a result of hearing your word, we pray that individuals would come to faith in Jesus Christ. They believe the gospel for themselves. We pray that we would know your mercy and share that mercy with others. And the same for grace. We thank you for your grace. Let us enjoy it and share it today. Thank you for meeting with us. Thank you for this good time to share together. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.