Titus 3 Pastor Jeff Shipley

Alright, we were going to be in Philippians chapter 3, but I'm actually going to, because of certain issues, mechanically, not mechanically, the door and stuff, electronically,

I'm going to have to be preaching somehow to preach next week, or the week after Omar, because I've got those notes, but I don't have a computer, and so be patient with me if I get kind of squirrely.

One of the most irritating things that I constantly try to correct in other pastors,

I am speaking at five different conferences until December, or about the 3rd of December, and I talk to these peoples, and you know, some of these pastors are just,

I don't know if they're all alone, but I talk to these people, and I say, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know.

And I try to be patient with some of their thoughts and the other.

But some of it borders on heresy, and some of it, man, it's just plain staple,

I'm going to tell you. One of the things that I always try to get them to say, get them to change their thinking, is, they always say something like this,

Hey, Pastor Jeff, will you and your church join with us so that we can win many souls to Jesus?

And I always tell them, we can't win souls to Jesus, son. I need you to come out of the 1970s.

We can't win souls to Jesus. That's not, I don't have that power. But I wish

I did a little bit. Then I would be responsible for people's souls. So no,

I don't. You can't win people to Jesus. So where does salvation come from?

Well, I know I preach a bunch in opposition to the sinner's prayer.

I hate it. Now, if you were converted by saying that prayer, you're wrong.

If you were converted by the faith and grace of God as you were saying that prayer, that's something totally different.

But I've never heard, well, I walk down the aisle, will a skippy do for you? I'd skip one for the two of us.

I don't do nothing. That's out of the question. Walking down an aisle doesn't make you a

Christian. Any more than sitting in a garage makes you a convert. You know what I mean? We've got to come to a point where we understand where salvation really emanates from.

Some people call it or think it's from a creed, the Nicene Creed or the 1644

London Confession. There's a new one out today in lyrical churches. They usually have rainbow flags right under the

Christian flag. It's called the Sparkle Creed. Sparkle Creed.

If you don't believe me, look it up on Google Chromes. Where does salvation really come from?

I'm going to ask you to turn with me in Titus chapter 3 and I'm going to show you, not from my understanding or my beliefs or my feelings or my thoughts, but what

God's Word says salvation comes from. Titus chapter 3, it's towards the back of your book.

Now you have to understand that 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are what are called pastoral epistles.

They were written to pastors, give the instruction on how to be a pastor.

But they are also very beneficial to the church at large because it should be a litmus test or a measuring rod by which you are to judge your pastor.

Not by what a deacon body says or what the world says or culture says or denomination says, but everything must be held to the standard of God's Word.

But today, let us look in Titus chapter 3 and I'm going to start in verse 1.

He writes the Titus, Remind him 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 towards all people.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, let us stray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice, envy, hatred by others and hating one another.

But, I love big butts. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our

Savior appeared, He saved us. Not because of works done in all 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 what? Justified by grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The same is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on those things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good work.

These things are excellent and profitable for people. Three things this morning about where salvation comes from, and then the results of what that salvation means.

Now for those of you who have spent your life sitting on the back pew, worrying more about what people are wearing than actually studying the

Word of God, let me familiarize yourself with a few terms. Salvation and conversion are two completely different things.

When were you saved? Before the foundation of the earth. You don't go to bed, do you?

Speak up! Before the foundation of the earth. Before the foundation of the earth.

You see, I was saved not when Billy Brann preached on TV, or I walked down an aisle, or said some silly prayer.

I was saved by the formation of God through His sovereignty, that yet even in my sin,

God looked down throughout time and said, that's my boy. Now for those of you who may be familiar with current trends in theological circles within the

Baptist Convention say, Oh, he must be so Calvinist. No, I'm not

Calvinist. I object to that term. I'm a spiritualist.

William is here. Salvation is a work of God.

Now listen, listen. Try to learn something. Some of you have already got sour bush lips on your face.

Do me a favor. Go right out the door of your car, park it locked, take two baby asses, and go up to one exit.

Learn something today. Learn something today. Conversion is what happened to Paul and us, all of us that are truly believers, when we came to an understanding of what

God had already done in your life. We were converted. We realized that we were truly something more than the pathetic, tone -deaf, unprayed, populous heathens that we had already done ourselves to be.

And you see, we were converted by God. But I want you to look here, understanding those two terms, understand that salvation comes from God.

Look in here to verse 4. But, with the goodness and loving kindness,

Troyes and Philadelphia, those are the two Greek words that are here meaning goodness and loving kindness.

Now, if you will note, that first word sounds awful like Carice. And what is

Carice? Grace. Grace, thank you. One, two, three people.

I've only been preaching about that for 18 years now. Thank you for the evaluation. God's grace.

It is by grace we are saved. Call the pastor. I've had my letter in this church for 31 years.

I feel so good. Now, that was gas. Who cares? Who cares where your church membership is?

The real question is, is your name where you put the letter? It is by grace we are saved.

Not the meritorious works of the flesh that we want to manifest as some sort of gold prize.

Salvation comes from God's grace. And then look at this. Especially for you stalwart

Reformed people who love the limits of atonement, I want you to understand that the

Greek word Philanthropia here, where it says loving kindness, is the idea of loving kindness, wait a minute, to all mankind.

For God. For God. So loved. The world.

That he gave his only begotten son. You see, for a doctrine to be a doctrine in the Bible, it can't be one verse.

It must be through Genesis, through Revelation, and be a non -contradiction to any other doctrine.

The understanding that God's word has gone out in a general revelation to all mankind, when he says in Isaiah, Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth.

For I am God, there is no other. It's both a call to repentance, but I fear for most, it will be an evidence of damnation.

For you have received and been revealed to the hope and the calling of God. Yet you have spurned it because of pride or some sort of silly religion.

And again, look at verse 5. It says this, He saved us not because of a worse done righteousness, but according to his own mercy.

I'm going to be honest with you. One of the things that I struggle with is mercy. It's one of the things

I struggle with. I can be merciful, but it is a learned behavior post conversion.

And I'm not going to give you an example of the antithesis of the mercy I have now because that would somehow heighten or glorify sin.

But I can tell you, mercy was not in my failing way before I was a

Christian. But you know what it tells me? Notice what the word in that, according to his mercy.

The mercy I now have is but a mere reflection of the mercy that I received.

Hello? Do you have trouble with mercy? Maybe you need to go back and figure out if you've ever received mercy.

Because mercy is available. It is a never ending pool from the hand of Almighty God.

Here in the book of Lamentations, because of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. His compassion is bailed out.

Wait a minute. They are new every Sunday when you walk down the aisle and say,

Master, I've sinned. They are new. And great is thy faithfulness.

You see, even when I am faithless, the mercy of God is still full. And I can draw from that well no matter how many times

I have failed. I can know the loving kindness and mercy of God even when I don't deserve it.

Because you know when mercy is never more powerful is when you realize you will never earn it.

Salvation comes from God. Now I'll tell you. I'll tell you.

I have a problem with you. And I'm going to be honest with you. I've looked it up in Greek.

It says, when God appeared. Now the Greek word there is epiphany.

Epiphany. You've probably heard that word as it is used in our colloquial language even now.

But I want to ask you, when did God ever appear? And if you're thinking a theodotic idea of the

Old Testament when God appeared as a pillar of smoke or as a...

Is it a pillar of smoke or a pillar of fire? Yeah, a pillar of fire or a pile of smoke.

I don't know. You know what I'm talking about. When He showed up to wrestle Jacob. Was that the theophany that we're talking about here?

Well, it could be except for this. The idea of epiphany is something that is revealed and is self -evident.

Except for the children of Israel and the Egyptians learning how to swim. Not everybody understood that.

But you see, today we can truly show the epiphany of God because there is something other than that.

You see, Jesus Christ came. John 1, 14 says, and we beheld the glory of God.

We beheld Jesus full of grace and truth.

Guys, God Himself is the author of salvation. He is the one that makes grace, mercy, and loving kindness so evident.

Now you say, Pastor, I really know that up here but I don't know it in here.

If you're part of the last three generations in America, feelings are so important.

Oh, you need Joel to stroke your little soul and tell you, my

God loves you like some idiot. No, I'm not going to say that.

He's just an idiot. But you need someone to make you feel something. You know how you feel grace?

You want to know how you feel grace? The greatest way for you to experience the grace of God if your worship is a little low, as I saw some of you this morning picking your nose, licking at your thumb, scratching while we were worshiping and praising

God. If your worship is a little low, if the motivation to serve God is a little low,

I would ask you to have a mind of contrast and comparison.

Now go back to the first word of verse 4. But, but, you see there is a contrast because it says, for we ourselves were once foolish disobedient.

You know why your grace grows cold? Because you look at the homosexual and are disgusted.

You look at people who have done wrong and you say, oh, I would never do that.

Let me tell you something. According to the word of God, you are found guilty of all sin.

For thou art not righteous, no, not one. When you want to understand the grace of God, never forget that it is in direct contrast to the holiness and wrath of God.

And you, my friend, were in a line of the buffet waiting to get crushed under the wrath of Almighty God.

God's hand was not staid, but we'll get to that in a second. Notice this other part.

Verse 5. He said this not because of works that we have done before him, but according to his own mercy.

Now watch. By the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Ah, there's those words like predestination and fornication that for generations

Baptist pastors have skipped over. I swear, Southern Baptist pastors is

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Romans. There are so many things that we leave out because they're unpalatable to the traditions that we have created.

But I must tell you again and again and again that the idea that God found us and we didn't find

Him is permanent throughout all of Scripture. It appears that Noah found grace in the eyes of God.

You say, well of course, because he was attending Sunday school and church worship every

Sunday morning at First Baptist. You know there is no word showing Noah's righteousness until he found the grace of God.

In fact, I will tell you this. Go to Genesis 6a if you want the reference. I will tell you this.

It is impossible to reflect any type of righteousness unless first you have been made clean.

What does it mean, regeneration? Well, regeneration simply means to get power back to bring life to.

You ever had a dead battery on your car? You plug the old jumper and turn it up and nothing happens?

You take it over to Cletus above his garage and he's sitting there with one tooth going north and one tooth going west just to go, well

I didn't know you got here! You got a dead battery cell! Charged you 75 bucks threw another battery in it runs good for two days and it's doing it again.

You take it back over to Cletus and he says, Ah! You got a bad alternator!

Or as they were known in the old days, we don't have many old people, but what were alternators called in the old days?

Generators. Generators. Because what it did is when you run the car that generator keeps refreshing that battery.

Refreshes it. We're talking about regeneration.

Let me say this to you. If you're in this room today and you have prayed

Jesus Christ into your heart that your Lord is standing there. If you sought out

God and you changed your life and you are going to go to church and you, notice the pronoun?

You are not a believer. You're not. You're one of those countless millions of people that have empowered the aisle of the church in a prayer to save you with nothing but the blood of Jesus' hand.

You need to understand this. You have no way of understanding how sinful you are or how great

God's grace is without the renewal of the Holy Spirit. The only way I can describe this and I hate to do this because I think

Billy Briggs is one of the greatest evangelists the world has ever known, but I must take umbrage with his theology when it comes to salvation.

The reoccurring example that he would give, he would say, man is treading in the ocean of sin and he's about to go down for the third time and he reaches his hand up finally to God and says, save me.

But the problem with that is that is theologically nowhere in Scripture. In fact, from Ephesians 2 and from a multiplicity of references throughout the

Old Testament and New, we know where man is. He is not treading water in the ocean of sin.

He is dead bones rotting in the ocean of sin. It tells us that we are dead in our trespasses and sin.

Why is that so important? Because we have no ability to tread and keep our heads above water.

We have already been found guilty. I know Christians and people always say, I'm going to stand in the judgment seat of God.

Let me let you in on a secret. You already have been found guilty. You are damned from the word of God.

I think about my grandson who is facing to be born. Mr. Penance.

Amen. Finally, after four sandwich makers I'm finally getting some.

I asked Aisha the other day did I get, you know, a burlap sack like I see all these little yuppie kids wearing now and tie it to my chest and paint it camouflage and let you come sit in the dinner stand with us already?

Aisha said no. We'll use her. My grandson who

I'm prepared to report to you.

I can't wait. I've already got him a UT hat. Huzzah!

Huzzah! You're going to be godly from the word of God. But actually he's not.

Yet, he is not even born yet and I tell you that right now he is already condemned.

Damaged. Go ahead and say it. Oh, but that's not fair.

You know what's not fair? That whiteness goes with everything. That's not fair.

That's not fair. The minute you cry fairness you just dismiss praisefulness.

There is no justice where I want to go to heaven except through the propitiation and death of Jesus Christ.

Salvation comes from God and it also comes from the Holy Spirit. Now let me press on here. The third thing is this.

Look at our verse here. Verse 6. Whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our

Savior. Confusion creased the brow of Pastor Jeff as he looked in a moment of panic and realized that there was a contradiction in Scripture.

For it just said, Lo, look unto me. It says in verse 4, God our

Savior. But here in verse 6 it says Jesus Christ our Savior. Oh, no.

What shall we do about that, boys and girls? Usually people who don't actually read

Scripture let me tell you something. If you are reading the Bible for a year, stop it.

Please stop it. Because all you're doing is wasting time. It would be so much better if you would read one verse, understand every aspect of it as the word of God tells us, to meditate, which means in a 360 degree look at every aspect, understand it and comprehend it and be able to communicate it than it is to speed read through a

Bible so you have good little glitzy feelings. And Mr. Adrian Rogers was proud of him.

That's not how we learn people. You see, I hear Jehovah's Witnesses do this to Christians all the time.

They ask them, do you believe in the Trinity? And of course the silly little Christian says, well, yes,

I believe in the Trinity. I have it right here.

And they say, find the word Trinity in the Bible. And I love the ignorance, piled on ignorance of the

Christian. As he sits there and he goes and then he does this. He'll flip to the very back of his

Bible. Oh, not because there is Scripture located there, but that ever present concordance that the ignorance of the modern church must depend on to actually be ready in season and in hours.

And when they look and the word Trinity does not appear, you see a very little bitty drop of sweats and beads start coming up on their forehead as they start going.

Well, John 3 .16 says, Do you realize that the trinity nature of God is found from Genesis to Revelation?

Genesis 1 .26 let us go down and make man in our own image.

The very word God is actually the word Elohim which literally means

God. You see, when God appeared, he appeared as Jesus Christ, our

Savior. Now look what it says here. It says this, and poured out on us.

I can see eyes shifting, heads swirling. Guys, try, take an

Adderall and focus just for a second. Maybe y 'all need to bump a rail or whatever you need to do.

No, no bumping rails in here. But I need you to really listen. I don't want you to go to a church service and listen to a stupid sermon.

I am not here to entertain you. I am not here to enlighten you. I am here to give you

God's word that it may teach you. But you have to unstop those religious ears and actually try to put forth an effort to learn so that you could be a student of Baptist for the rest of your life.

Right? Listen. It says this, that we are poured out on us so richly.

That word poured out, I'm just going to give you just an awesome idea. I love watching old videos.

I am on my, what's it called, computer, iPad, every night I type in stuff like build shed by hand.

Hand tools only building carts. I have this one nerd dude, he's somewhere up and he rebuilds old 1800's wagons using hand tools.

No power tools, just do it by hand. Well this one dude popped up and said how they used to make wine in the old days.

And I was like, oh that's cool. So I put it and yeah there was two dagos up there, you know stomping on the brakes and all that stuff.

But once they stomped on the brakes they took all of the skins and what was left and they put it in this massive wooden press.

And they started turning this huge screw and they were pressing it and the juice, more juicerous, started pouring out all the sides of that press.

Do you know for the blood of Christ to be poured out on us so richly?

He first had to be pressed. Isaiah 53 tells us it was

God who took delight in crushing Jesus Christ.

What is that doctrine called? Thank you

Pastor Josiah. Let me ask y 'all a question, seriously. I want to offend some of y 'all today.

Some of y 'all have been sitting in a Baptist church your entire life and you're just as stupid today as the dandy

John G is. What is wrong with you? What is wrong with you?

How can you be given something so precious as both salvation and the word of God and be so ignorant of both of them?

Is it truly just mere apathy? Is it truly just mere stupidity? Is it truly to have been long asleep that simply by attending a church service you have somehow made your sacrificial offering to God?

Please, for the love of God. I actually had an old woman in my last church say this, Pastor, can you quit using those fancy words and start using

Bible words? And I just looked at her with just awe -inspiring stupor and go, where do you think those words come from?

You won't go to God. Come! Learn the word of God!

Propheciation! It is the wrath of God cast away from us and turned unto

Jesus Christ. Oh, by the way, if you were offended by what I just said, you're the only one that'll call me.

So, if you come to this place where it says he was poured out, understand that something had to be crushed for it to be poured out.

Last thing, what is the result of all this? What is the result of all this?

Read this next verse. So that, okay, we were this, but God saved us, so that, verse 7, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

What is justification of God? And this is referring to the imputation by the state.

And he's a paralyzed person, which means he's not that smart. Oh, by the way,

Tim, happy Disability Month. Did y 'all know that there's a Disability Month? I didn't. I didn't either.

Happy Cripple Month, Tim. I'm just, I'm already here. Get an extra parking space, get an extra parking space, and you cripples get money from the government.

That's my top scholars. I don't know. Watch, verse 8.

This thing, now listen, he's talking to a pastor again. This thing is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, basically what

I just did, insisting, so that those who have believed in God, that's you Christians, may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

What is the result of salvation? I'm going to go to heaven and get a little harp and some little wings.

I'm going to get a brand new white King James Bible, and I'm going to get down and sit and talk to Paul.

I'm going to get inquired for 10 ,000 years. You are such a geek. That's not the immediate result.

The only immediate result of salvation is to go to the Lord. This is part where you say amen.

Introspectively look at yourself. Realize that you've been sitting in a pew all your life and haven't done jack. This is that moment where convictions should set in, and you should kind of pedal paddle up here to the altar and ask for forgiveness.

But before we get to that, understand and insist upon the idea that you were saved for service.

Working. That's right. Pastor, I tithe every week. Do me a favor.

Keep your money. I know Brother Brandon is going to come and ask for your money. Listen, do me a favor.

If you don't want to work, and I say this with all genuine sincerity, go somewhere else and retire right through here.

Retire. And I'll tell you why. Because I got, you're not that lucky, where is she?

Pardon me, I got an 80 -something -year -old Protestant kid who does more work for Jesus Christ than most able -bodied people.

I got old women who write birthday cards who don't do a bit of something else, and their birthday cards do more ministry than other people do who've got two able -bodied legs and a job.

You know what I'm saying? Guys, go to work. For the love of God, go to work.

You are never going to know the fulfillment of why God saved you until you start investing in God's kingdom.

People say, well, Pastor, I'm fastening up to this far apart from God. I don't know what's wrong.

Here's the answer. Habitual sin and habitual laziness. Repent of this and go to work and don't you find money out for you.

I promise you. You know what I'm saying? You know what

I'm saying? You know what

I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? I am here to insist on things that you should devote to do.

I'm doing the job. You see, when I get to heaven, I don't want God to say, where were you on that Jake thing?

Now, where were you on that Britney thing? Where were you on that Faith thing? Where were you? Well, he had none of you.

So we're going to have a hymn of invitation or a song, and we're going to do something. The music nerds, come on.

Listen. Listen to me. If you're in this room, listen.

God has that Pavlovian. Oh, good God. Listen. If you're in this room, and you pray

Jesus Christ in your heart as your Lord and Savior, and nothing has changed in your life, you're not a

Christian. You are going to hell. But my mama said, my pastor said,

I had a little feeling it's all a lie. You see, the Word of God says this, if you claim to know the truth and you continue to walk in darkness, you are a...

and the truth is not in you. Sorry if facts disturb you. That's just facts.

If you're not sure of where you are with Jesus, that's what God made all the pastors for.

I can't say, I am just like you. I'm just one idiot telling other idiots where to find faith.

There's no more spirit God in me than there is in anybody else's. But what I do have is an infinite knowledge of God's Word that I can open up and show you where to go.

That's all I am. Number two, if you are not a member of a church, and your idea of being a member of a church is going and sitting in an air -conditioned room and singing a few hymns, getting an inspiring sermon and going home and doing nothing, this is not the place for you.

But if you want to be held accountable in life where people are going to get all up in your business and know where you're at and why aren't you working and what did you miss in that sermon this morning, if you need that kind of accountability, come on up and join me and I'll be honest with you, we might take you.

We might. Number three, if you're in this room today and you are a

Christian and you know you're not living like God wants you to, sitting there, holding onto the back of the chair, looking at that screen as the conviction of the

Spirit starts fading away as you keep trying to press it down and figure your way, you're going to walk out of here the same way you walked in.

Alright? Is that too much church for some of you? Here's an idea. How about walk down here find another brother or sister of Christ in the room who is struggling the same way you are and say, hey man, can we call each other every day?

Can we get together and can we talk? What's that A word?

Accountability. James chapter 5 Come on y 'all!

Accountability. James chapter 5 verse 16 says this, confess your faults one to another that you may be in heaven.

Maybe we should have somebody doing something different instead of saying a silent prayer for the last 30 minutes. Alright?

Let's all stand up and if you are a believer and you're in good stead, do me a favor and don't stand where you are.

Don't talk to someone and minister to someone. Be the church and be obedient as God leads.