January 12, 2020
Evening Service

This morning Paul got up close and personal with each of us.  He made it very clear that that the work in the church is not something to be done only by the leadership.  We all have a part to play in the ministries that are at work now and also by investing in the next generation to be able to continue the work in the future.  We are better together.  I loved how Andy and Jeremy’s communion reading tied in with this fact as well.

Ex. 12:26-28 And it shall be, when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?'  (27)  that you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.' " So the people bowed their heads and worshiped.  (28)  Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

            The Lord wanted the Israelite children to know the “why” behind the “what” they did with the Passover meal.  We need to take the same approach in how we pass on the many facets of our worship service and ministries to the next generation.  It makes it much more clear and meaningful when we all know “why we do what we do.”  The Communion Reading is a great example of that.  It is meant to inform us or remind us of the reason we feel that is a vital part of our weekly service.  We try to be very clear on these and other points as well including prayer requests, anointing and even “hug and howdy.”

            Again this morning Paul challenged each of us personally to take a close look into our lives and see if we are where we need to be in regards to things such as family roles, character traits, work ethic and investing in others.  As we begin tonight, Paul (guided by the Holy Spirit) gets up close and personal again and I hope we can explain the “why” in “what” Jesus is calling us to do.

 

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,

        Paul begins with reminding us that it is through the grace (unmerited favor) of God that salvation is even available to us at all.  Paul’s letter to Ephesians explains this very well.

 

Eph. 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.  (10)  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

        It is by grace (because we do not deserve it) and through faith (because we can’t earn it) that our salvation is given to us as a gift.  Since we don’t deserve salvation or haven’t earned it we have no right to boast about attaining it except that we are loved and valued by our Lord that He would offer it to us; even while we were still sinners. (Rom 5:8) This fact should create within us a desire to follow Jesus anywhere He would send us.  He has a purpose for us and has created us as a “Masterpiece for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

  We will not in any way “earn” our salvation by walking in these “good works” but we will be fulfilling all that God has created us for; our purpose.  By following Him and lining up with His Word we become the men and women we are created to be and are yielded and ready to serve our Lord.  As we are found faithful in the small things, He entrusts us with even bigger ones.  As we return to Titus, these are some of the small things that we are expected to be doing to be ready for service.

 

Tit 2:12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,

            It is the Holy Spirit that speaks to us through the Word teaching us these things he mentions here.  We are to live a life that in which we “Deny ungodliness and worldly lusts” or we could just say a life that avoids sin.  The gift of salvation changes our hearts and creates within a desire to remove sin from our lives because it does not align with our new Master.  Paul explained how we are to view grace to the Roman church like this:

 

 Romans 6:15-18 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!  (16)  Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?  (17)  But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.  (18)  And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

        We are not changed in order to receive salvation, but we are changed because we received salvation.  Salvation through the blood of Christ bought our freedom from our bondage to pay for our sins (as we were sins slaves).  Now that we are free from our sins we are now slaves to our new Master.  Paul told the Corinthians:

 

1Co 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

            To glorify God in our body means to do our best to avoid sin and live “soberly, righteously and godly in this present age” (returning to Titus 2:12).  Because we have received such a great salvation, being bought with an extremely high price, we need to live a life that lines up with the truth of the Word; fixing any issues we see in our spiritual mirror today.  The reason for doing that includes of what will happen in the future and the sacrifice that it took to make that possible as Paul now reveals to Titus.

 

Tit 2:13-15 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (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.  (15)  Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.

 

 

 

 

        Our hope, as we spoke of yesterday at Bob’s funeral, is “the Lord Jesus Christ.”  He holds the keys to our future because He “gave Himself for us.”  His blood washes away our sins giving us the “blessed hope” that He will return one day for us and “thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (I Thess. 4:17) His plan was to “redeem us” (gain control of something by a payment) from being the slaves of sin into becoming a “special people, zealous of good works.”  His desire is to change us into His image that then He can do His work through us which is our created purpose in life.

 To repent of our sins, which is a one of the steps to attain salvation, has two meanings.  It first means we show sincere regret for the sins we have committed and a desire to separate ourselves from them.  Secondly, it means we desire to move in a whole different direction than the one we are traveling.  “To turn over a new leaf” or to make a 180-degree turn would describe it as well.  We quit pursing sin and begin to pursue God; becoming that “special people zealous for good works.”  Grace makes the gift of salvation free, but it is to create a change in our lives that showcases our receiving it.  Jesus told the Pharisees to “bear fruits worthy of repentance.”  These “fruits” are what Paul has been describing to Titus in this entire chapter.  It is a life focus change; no longer on self and sin, but focused entirely on God.  It becomes who we are and not what we do.  That hopefully helps to answer the question or “why we do what we do?”

 

Heavenly Father, open the eyes of our hearts to receive the salvation that comes as a free gift through Your grace, and transform us into vessels that reflect Your acceptable and perfect will.