Wednesday, April 9, 2025 PM

I wanted to make sure they didn't hear me singing. We're continuing in our study of Titus. So that's where we'll be turning. We're in Titus chapter two, and this is verses 11 through 15. Titus chapter two, verse 11 through 15.

Grace Appearing to All Men in Titus 2

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 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, speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you. I've been enjoying listening to Dylan go through Titus and appreciate what Michael has said in his lessons in Titus as well.

One cannot look around in the world that we're living in without noticing how fractured our world is. And there's no shortage of blame being thrown. Whose fault is it? Progressive versus conservative, minorities versus majorities, old versus young, man versus woman, children versus adults.

As our culture seemingly declines, it is a race to the bottom for who can lay the guilt at a different group, at their feet. The environment we find ourselves in seems ever-changing and one might be tempted to wonder, how do we get past all these differences with the people around us?

What hope is there in preaching the gospel when the people around me are so different than me? What do we do? How do we live? Titus 2 gives us some instruction. We see here in the first verse, looking at verse 11, the answer to our questions, the answer for our fractured world.

And so kind of backing up a little bit to the book of Titus, specifically chapter two. In chapter one, we see kind of a bleak description of the Cretans and what they're like. We see some of the problems that Paul is instructing Titus in.

They have their own lifestyle in Cretan. They are a certain way. You have false teachers teaching certain things. You have people who profess to know God, but deny him in their works. How do we deal with that?

And this is where we get to chapter two. In chapter two, we have a bracket around the chapter. In verse two, we see the phrase, speak these things. In verse 15, we also have the phrase, speak these things, as a kind of a bracket around what's going on.

This instruction that Paul is giving to Titus in what he's supposed to say and what he's supposed to teach, speak these things. So what is it that he's supposed to speak? In summary, it's good works to God's people.

God has a special people, and Titus is instructed to speak of sound doctrine and good works to God's special people. We also see that he comes back to that in verse 14. We see that God has a special people that is zealous for good works.

And right in the middle, we have this sound doctrine. In verses 11 through 14, which we'll be looking at, we get somewhat of a doxology or a praise about the things that God has done. And he just dives right in to the deep end of doxology.

And this is the basis for the instruction that he gives previously. And so we're gonna be diving into that. So this is how we deal with the fractured world. This book gives us the example of a different people group that has differing beliefs, contrary to what Paul is trying to teach, what Timothy is trying to teach, to what he would have the elders teaching.

And yet, he's told to preach these things. If we continue on, the grace of God, looking at verse 11 there, the grace of God that brings salvation has not been reserved for one type of people, but rather has appeared to all men without distinction.

Old, young, man, woman, Cretans, Jews, the blue haired progressive and the blue collared conservative. Jesus Christ is their greatest need. Cretans may be liars, evil beasts and lazy gluttons, but Titus is not to despair.

Rather, Titus is told to rebuke them sharply.

Why?

That they may be sound in the faith. There is hope for them. And Paul is telling them, this is why you preach to them. This is why you teach them and rebuke them sharply because there is hope. There is Jesus.

The grace of God has appeared to all men and our mission is no less. When everyone is seeking unity around a million different things, when the people around you are finding their identity in their group, their country, their creed, political affiliations, you have the true source of unity in whom we move and live and have our being.

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He's the light of the world. He can't be hidden under a political or social bushel. His light is going to shine. Galatians 3 .28, there is neither Jew nor Greek.

There is neither a slave nor free. There's neither male or female for you are all one in Christ Jesus. There is no group that is beyond his saving and therefore we go. Therefore we teach. Not only does he deal with the differences, he also deals with the blame here.

So you've got Cretans with varying beliefs and ways of living, but there's also blame. They're doing this type of thing and they're doing that and they're more evil and Paul deals with the blame here because it is Christ or chaos because without Christ to remove that guilt, to remove the crushing weight of sin, chaos ensues.

Man cannot bear the weight of sin. So to bring relief, that guilt is placed on another and now we have a blame game. They're guilty for it, they're guilty for it. Not me, they're guilty for it. Now, obviously this blame is not removed by placing blame at other people's feet.

Someone has to deal with it. If it's not placed on Christ, it will be placed on someone else. This is not to say the guilt is actually removed, it only builds and builds and builds. Sin begets sin and chaos emerges.

But in Christ, we are new creatures. There's no condemnation, there's only freedom. We are made into one people, a special people. Salvation is for all men and there is hope for those around us. We don't have to get caught up in stereotypes or groups but rather rest in the fact there are only two groups, those in Christ Jesus and those that are not.

That is where we find our unity and that is the unity that we call others to. So we're gonna take a dive into what that looks like. What does it look like to have this type of unity, this section we're going through.

He's speaking, if you notice, chapter two, verse one, but as for you, so he's turned his attention. And so now he's talking to Timothy and the things that Timothy, or excuse me, Titus, is supposed to be teaching.

The Pattern of Living Soberly, Righteously, and Godly

So first I'd like to say that in here, we have a pattern for living as God's special people, a pattern for living as God's special people. So if you'll notice there in verse 11, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.

And so the pattern for living as God's special people, we are called to live soberly, righteously, and godly. So first we're supposed to live, right? We are called to live soberly, righteously, and godly.

So let's focus on that word soberly there. What does he mean by that? Soberly may conjure up dour images of the legalist finding fault with the things of this world. Rather, this is to take every thought captive to the word of God, enjoying the world that God has given us in light of eternity, rather than for their own sake.

The gifts that we receive, we are supposed to think of them soberly. We're not just supposed to cast them aside, they are gifts, but the gifts point to the giver. Living soberly might mean weighing what social events need to be avoided, but it also might look like a joyful party or a feast with our favorite food, drinks, and people strategically planned as an antidote against this legalistic cancel culture we find ourselves in.

So living soberly is not cancel culture, but it's thinking soberly about these things, and often that brings joy and celebration. It's the opposite of frivolous. Soberly here means thoughtful, not frivolous.

There's room for differences of conscience, but the principle is that as his special people, we are called to think about the way that we live, right? So we are called to live soberly. Secondly, this leads us to the next point there.

We are called to live soberly and to live righteously. Now, what does that mean? Some of you may be familiar with this during tornado season. It's a common occurrence where if you're watching David Payne and there's a tornado passing over a town and it narrowly misses, you'll hear him something say, well, someone must be living right there, right?

Someone's living right there, and then the tornado passes by. So that's a common thing you might hear. However, living righteously is more than just a get out of hell free card. Here we see that those who live righteously do so because they are taught by the spirit, having been saved.

Saved people live righteously. This right living is not some arbitrary being good or doing good, but knowing our savior and becoming more like him. First Thessalonians four, verse three. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.

Not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. They live that way because they do not know God, because we know God and are known by him, we live godly lives. In order to live godly lives, we must know him.

And so we're called to live soberly, we're called to live righteously, and we're called to live godly lives. We are to walk like God. Some confuse this issue by seeking signs and miracles and wonders, and claiming that we are little gods.

This is not correct. When we're told to live godly lives does not mean that we are gods. We must look to Jesus who is the perfect embodiment of walking in godliness. Jesus bore the fruit of the spirit by which any signs and wonders were subject.

Jesus sought to do the will of his father, that should be our aim, and we do so by imitating Christ. And so we are called to live soberly, to live righteously, and to live godly. Right, so this is a pattern for living as God's special people.

If we are called to live in that type of way, what else are we called to do? Continuing on in our passage, verse 13. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ.

So we are called to live soberly, righteously, godly. We are also called to look. We're called to look. Called to look for the blessed hope, called to look for the glorious appearing, and the glorious appearing of our great God and savior.

So let's start with the blessed hope. What is this blessed hope that it's talking about? And what reason do we have to trust our hopes will be vindicated? What are we hoping in? How do we know it'll come about?

We're told here in verse 11 that the grace of God has already appeared, bringing salvation, right? So God has appeared. He's brought salvation to all men. And so we enjoy the benefits of salvation. In the first sense, we have been saved.

We have been saved, past tense. He has already appeared. He's already brought salvation. And we've been saved from the penalty of sin. There's now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This act of free grace has already been applied to us as we were justified or declared righteous by God because of Jesus's saving work.

So being free from the penalty of sin, we look forward into the future with full confidence that we are being saved and that we will be saved. You'll know this. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

And we're talking about this blessed hope. What is this that we're hoping for? Our devotion to Jesus is the substance and the evidence that our hope is not in vain. The Lord has promised good to me and good to you.

His word, my hope, secures, right? It's because of Jesus. We are being saved from the power of sin. We call this sanctification, right? We've been saved, past tense, that's justification. We are being saved currently.

That is our sanctification, and that's being saved from the power of sin. And we hope, looking forward to the day, that we will be saved from the presence of sin, which we call glorification, when we're with him in heaven.

We use this term salvation kind of interchangeably, but when you go through the New Testament, it's used in these different senses. We have been saved. We have been forgiven. We are also being saved. Well, what is that?

That's our sanctification. That is our walking with Christ and becoming more like him, being freed from the power of sin. And yet there's still sin around us. But one day, we will be glorified and we will be freed from the presence of sin.

With this glorification, we have the ultimate hope of the resurrection from the dead, where like our elder brother, Jesus, we received glorified bodies. Jesus did not raise from the dead, leaving his body, and we will be like him in glory.

He rose from the dead bodily. We will rise from the dead in like manner. And this is what we are looking for. What is this blessed hope? It is this, that we have been saved, that we will be saved, and that we will be glorified in the same way that he is glorified.

And why is this a blessed hope? Because he's done it. He's already rose from the dead. That's our hope. He's done it. He fulfilled the promises that he made, and he's made promises to us. So we have every confidence that he will keep those promises that he's made.

And so we will be like him. That is our hope. That is what we are looking for. So if we're called to look for this blessed hope, we're also supposed to look for his glorious appearing. Now, if you'll notice in verse 11, it says, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

So this grace of God has already appeared to all men. Jesus has come in the flesh. It was a gracious act of God, and it's given to man. Here, he continues on, and it says, we're to look for his glorious appearing.

This is something that was future to them, his glorious appearing. He has already appeared, bringing salvation, and being confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

This glorious appearing is the appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ. Contrary to confused Jehovah's Witnesses who insert a break in that phrase, between God and savior, Jesus is truly God and truly man.

He's able to represent God to us and represent us, humanity, to God. And he's coming back bodily to raise the dead. This is Matthew 25, verse 31. When the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.

All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. And so this is our blessed hope. We look forward to his glorious appearing. And who is it that is appearing to us? It is our great God and savior, Jesus Christ.

So this pattern of living as his special people, we are called to live soberly, righteously, and godly. We are called to look for this blessed hope. We are called to look for this glorious appearing and this person, our great God and savior, Jesus Christ.

But there's another thing that we are called to do. If you look at verse 12, it says that the salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior.

And in keeping with the alliteration, I've put love. Now, do you see love there in the text? The word love is not there, but I guarantee love is there. Look at verse 14, who gave himself for us, who gave himself for us.

We are called to live, to look, and we are called to love. We are called to love as he loved. In verse 13, we see that he gave himself up for us. This should remind us of John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he what?

He gave, he gave. And this is what it's saying here in our text. He gave himself for us. God the father gave his son, and the son gave his life. There's a temptation to think that love, which is an act of giving, God so loved the world that he gave.

There's a temptation to think that love, which is an act of giving, means giving the person validation, affirmation, or a feeling of being loved. While this is sometimes the case, like in genuine Christian encouragement, love is also based on truth.

Well, it's based on truth. When we give, our giving is informed by the truth. And here we see that he gave his life for what purpose? It says to redeem us from unlawful deeds. He gave his life to redeem us from unlawful deeds.

If validation, affirmation is the goal, there is no need to address the unlawful deeds. There's no reason to bring it up. Jesus gave his life for us, so you can go and do whatever you like. That's not what it says.

He gave himself to redeem us, to redeem us from unlawful deeds. We're constantly being told that we must rejoice in people's iniquity, that we must acknowledge their truth and their felt experiences. But is that loving to leave them in that when Jesus Christ died to redeem people from it?

This is in Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter six. Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth.

It bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things. And this is what Jesus does when he redeems us from unlawful deeds. He does not rejoice in our iniquity, but he rejoices in the truth.

So having given himself for us, he gave in this way that he loved, he redeemed us from unlawful deeds. It also says that he purified us. This is how he loves us. He purifies us. He purifies for himself a special people.

Looking at verse 14, Titus two, verse 14. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people. Ephesians five says this. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with a washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

If this is a command to earthly husbands, what do we think Christ will do with his bride? He'll do this very thing. What he did in giving himself leads to what we do. And what we do comes from who we are.

We are his people. We are his bride. And this redeemed and purified works, what does she do? Purified bride, what does she do? There in verse 14, he 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.

Zealous for good works. This is how we love. We give our time, our emotions, our resources. We give our energy, our presence, our prayers. We give our lives as he gave his life. God takes that earthly cost and he converts it into eternal glory.

We're zealous for good works, outdoing one another in good works and showing love. And he takes that cost, whatever it was, time, money, resources, and he converts it into eternal glory. I think of the stipulations that he gives previously in chapter two.

You have all these different types of people, older men, younger men, older women, younger women. What does this look like? It looks like older pouring into younger. The younger respecting and learning from the older.

Slaves, employees working hard for their employers. Brothers and sisters in Christ striving with the power of the Holy Spirit, outdoing each other in love. And that stays with us. Not just until we die, but on into eternity.

And this is for the glory of God. And so the pattern for living as his special people, we are called to live, live soberly, live righteously, live godly. We are called to look, look for the blessed hope.

And it is a blessed hope because of his glorious appearing and who he is, our great God and savior. And they're also called to love because we've been redeemed, because we've been purified. And in doing so, it makes us zealous for good works because of the things that he has done.

And so we'll leave it there for next week. And we'll talk about a call to listen as his special people. So let's pray and then we'll move on to prayer requests. God, we thank you for this evening. I do thank you for your word.

I thank you for the clear instruction you've given us. And I thank you for providing a church that this plays out in. I thank you that we have older men and older women and teaching younger men and younger women.

And I thank you that we have people that are holding on to that blessed hope and that are passing it down to younger generations. I thank you that we have a church that loves, that gives of its time. I thank you for giving yourself to redeem us and showing us the error of our ways and forgiving our sins.

And I thank you that you've purified us and that in looking to you and the work that you have done inspires us and drives us to love one another just as you have loved us. We know there are people around us that are very different from us that still need you.

And you have given us that hope that they can be converted as well. And we ask that you would do this. We ask that we would be the means, help us to preach the gospel to those around us, showing your love in tangible ways.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.